tulip 2

SUN31
May, two thousand and twenty.
Thw walk up the hill is completed, now up at the small zoo, the one with the farm animals and the deer, all in their enclosures.
There are people about, all taking their children for Sunday walks.

Too many people, talking to their children in loud voices, some using silly sounding baby

talk, all with a strong bavarian accent.
Move, follow the path to the park bench under the tulip tree. The morning is darkening, there is soft grey cloud everywhere.

Listen to the bees and the calls of the children.
In the town, the church bells sound. It is ten thirty six, perhaps there is a service. Accordint to the pastor, the churches are so badly attended that social distancing will make no difference to the attendance figures.

People pass, the old ones say their

'gaits gott," , 'the young ones do not.

tulip trees

30th of May, 2020

.

the bells in the town just rang for ten. "It is ten in the morning' m the quiet city park. Young parents are taking Their children

out for walks. There is a young family coming down the path, the two young girls were as far as possible over to their right. keeping their distance. Keep wdt to the right, with them a. good morning. The father gives in reply. a good morning Farther on, there is a monument, a ruined monument standing in a glade. "It had been built with iron supports let into the stone, and water had found its way in. The frost and the mist dealt with the rest, there is only a vertical column left now, the remains of other structures littered around the base of the column. The light in the morning is nice, it its a shame that there are no people about to ejure the thing scale. Take a picture anyway. That picture flower, but the blooms are up high, invisible from the ground.

There is the sound of The horns of the emergency services in town. They davge pitch as their vehicles speed away, this must be the doppler effect. Take a picture commentating * of MZ a statue of some bavarian king. He died in the Boo' s, the statue is from the mtekenth century. Germanic heroes were in vogue at That time. It is time to leave the rash bench under the tulip tree and to go home.

done.Today

Step into the plastic clogs, it is just before seven in the morning. The workmen are due at seven, so go down the stairs and unlock the front door, they may let themselves in. The workmen have renovated the wall to the neighbours property, there is still work to be done. The cat is standing at the door, she wants to go out to do her morning rounds, it is convenient for her that there is somebody there who will open the door.
Take a morning shower, and whilst selecting the clothing for the day hear the front door slam and the noise of a trolley being wheeled over the boards covering the steps to the basement. The men have arrived. There is a scraping noise from the yard, they have started to work immediately.

This is a grey day, a grey morning, a morning without a plan.
The son's alarm clocks are sounding, witnessing his intention to be up early.
The wife is fast asleep. They both go to bed so late, it sometimes strange to be the only early riser in the house.

Think of the work to be done today.
Let us hope to be able to get some of it done.
Today

snivel

There is a strange feeling in the mouth, get up and make a bottle of mineral water with the carbon dioxide injector. Drink the water, feel better almost immediately, the strange taste in the mouth goes away. Then there is the sound of the alarm clock, press the button and silence that. There will be no work today, due to the work at home rule imposed by the university.
That is in order.
Lie down for a few more minutes.
Awake an hour later, and realise that it is seven in the morning, it is time to open the door to let the builder in.
Dress in yesterdays clothes with the greatest possible speed.
Run down the stairs.
Open the door, and look out.
It is raining.


Make a cup of coffee, and have an unrelated fit of sneezing.
Drink the cup and lie down for a second.

Awake an hour later, realise that this must be a cold. Stay in bed, for another hour.
This is silly, today is a day when so much could be done, and all it is is snivels and a headache.

'cause others have work

The electronic lock on the office door whistles, turn the small silver knob, and the door unlocks. Press the handle and step in to the small room. the glass covered desk to the right and the white desk on the left. An old printer in the back right hand corner by the window, and that is it. A camera in a black plastic case, with a few lenses, and that is all.

Put the brown carry bag onto the window ledge at the back of the room, and the jacket over a chair. That is it, turn on the computer.
Those are the first rites every working day.
There are no messages on the computer.


Settle down to finish the work on the shield for the veterans society. It is private, for a colleague, but there is really nothing else to do.
This is the first time working with Illustrator in five years, it was necessary to start up an older computer to let it run. So much has been forgotten, it takes longer  than expected.

There was no need to come into work today, other than to be present.
Just being here
and feeling guilty, 'cause others have work.

executed

Twenty-sixth of May, 2020

The telephone rings, look at the display. It says

that the gas man is ringing up, he probably need something to be printed. He talks and talks, about an embroidered badge that he wants on paper. But he does not want it embroidered. He wants a finished art. He talks and talks. The embroidered badge is the badge of a war graves society, a club. People who uphold the memory of those that died in the violence between states. It is a small badge, with a german war cross in the middle. The military cross, all the beams narrowing to the point where they intersect. The background is the blue and white diamond patterned Bavarian flag. All these symbols of national pride, but still the man explains that this is a club that is dedicated to maintaining peace. There is no point in argument, he is friendly, and-so what, there is nothing much else to do.








Mention those executed for refusing to serve. He looks perplexed, but then, that must be a different story.
It is a sample job, a few geometric shapes, it will not take long.

a week of disturbances.

There is a white blind in front of the window now, it was put there the night before by the wife. She was anticipating the early arrival of the building workers. This should prevent them looking in and seeing her asleep.
The news from the world is the same today as it was yesterday. Injustice and unfairness, greed and prejudice seem to be the main subjects being dealt with.

Make something warm to drink, staying up last night to watch television was not a good idea, the body would have been happier being asleep.

Put on a fresh pair of trousers, replace the ones soiled yesterday with a careless activity.
Namely, closing the cover of the entrance to the cellar. The dirty water on the surface slopped all over the trouser legs.
There is no harm done that a sojourn in the washing machine will not fix.

Sit down again, read on, study the charts describing the spread of the virus.

The doorbell rings, it is eight in the morning and the workers are there.
Go to the door, there is in fact only one worker, and a small flatbed truck.
He has white hair, and is a quiet man. He starts to carry his bags of mortar and plaster to the back of the house one by one,

Give him the two wheeled trolley, the own back hurts to watch him strain his. Now the neighbours builder can transport  three of those bags at a time, without unduly straining his back.
The neighbours wall needs to be repaired, and that is the only way to get to it.
So there will be disturbances for a week.

park

The family are asleep, the cat is going mad, does not know what it wants.
It rushes around, wants to leave by that door, then not, then stops and starts complaining in front of another door. Perhaps there are too many doors.

And after a cup of coffee, and reading the non-existent news leave the house. There is still a morning chill in the air, but move on anyway, despite the discomfort. There is a page of warm sunlight in the sculpture park. Admire the sculptures,  and the building , the converted town wall, now a sculpture museum.

Leave the sculpture garden, and climb the steps to the park.

And after the walk up the sepentine,view the town from the viewing platform at the top of the hill. Listen to the sound of emergency services, an ambulance perhaps, and then more of the same, there is the sound of two or three Martins horns, they sound as if they are leaving the fire station.
Somebody's Sunday has started badly.
Warm now, after the walk up the hill, turn around to face a man standing there. He is a large man, dressed in a warm jacket.
He has a silly grin on his face.
Turn away.
He turns away and goes down the hill to the left.
Take the right, go down the hill.

It is good to be alone sometimes.

sleep

The light from the window is grey from the occluded sky, all is dim peaceful and silent.

Saturday morning is like that, awake in the morning, all is well. Look at an absence of news but for news on the spread of the epidemic.

There were warnings, and for whatever reasons these were ignored. So it has happened.

The living room is dim, there is the grumbling sound of liquids flowing in the refrigerator. A very few passers-by outside. The cat had begged, had recieved, and now is silent. A small amount of sloppy food on it's plate, it tried for more, but more was not forthcoming.

The news, and the comments lead to thoughts that attempts are being made to change the future by altering the past. False accounting, present a bill, change the subject.

And that is all.

There are more sounds outside in the street. People are preparing a days excursion.

The neighbours have a well planned existence.

The flat is fantastic, the family is a lucky one. 

Still, they are sleeping.

online, offline

There is no wish to get up.
Indolent.
Things have changed, there is the hiss in the head, that has not changed.
There is no wish to get up, there is no wish to do the housework that needs to be done.

The son has been up for a while, he is on his computer, attending classes whilst his school is closed.
He is talking about German poetry, and writing an analysis of some poem.
His teacher is online, invisible. Just a voice.
A system that allows the teacher to look at the work that the pupils have done onscreen, but the camera to see the pupil himself is not activated. A system for an emergency, Perhaps to turn into normality in future.

This black hopeless feeling strengthens the beds embrace, force needs to be applied to get up and to read the news. The news is not good, there is silence spreading everywhere as the news of the spread of the corona virus and the methods in use to curtail this spread occupy the headlines and most of the subsidiary spaces in the media.

The cat is outside, complaining at the scaffolding put up in the yard by the workers. It is the fourth day that it is there, providing access to the wall. The cat is exploring it, making cat exclamations all the while.
It is a lovely day outside, a Friday, dictation from the boss to stay at home. Be available online.
There is just a wish that the headache would go offline.

holy Thursday

The family of three is two thirds asleep. There is the cat, of course, she is awake. But the human parts, but for this one, are asleep.
Be quiet, read the news on the computer.
All is well in a world that is so ill.
Sit at the desk in the corner of the bedroom, drink cups of coffee, read about the shamelessness of right wing politics.
It is the kind of shameless behaviour that appeals to so many people, because of it's rude simplicity. There is no attempt to hide that the only interest is "me and mine". And those who are not of this group, are not.

The weather is fine, outside. The thick walls of the old house hold the cold of the night. It is Ascension Day today, and in Germany they call it Vatertag. Men claim it for themselves, and imhbibe much alcohol to prove their right.
It used to be so that women stayed indoors today, but things change. Many things change for the better.

The town outside is silent yet, there is the very occasional sound of a car passing outside.

Take the computer out to the table in the big room, in order to write these notes. There is the sound of the wife in the background, she has risen from the sheets,

She complains of having slept badly, it is her back.
A description of back pains follows.
It is complicated.
Perhaps a walk would be good.

time sheets

It is early, and the sky is darkening with cloud. The car is parked by the tree. The gravel crunches underfoot.
And who gives a shit?
Nobody and what for. The boss does not care, he is happy at home being the spider in the web, zooming and directing and deciding from afar. Meanwhile, the things that he is supposed to be running go to the dogs.
Just a thought as the little black chip on the keychain is placed under the clock in device.
It shows that there are fortyfive minutes on the plus side, a full day and forty five minutes. All of the minutes and hours worked extra during the past weeks have added up.

Put on the mask entering the building.

Watch the pendulum sway back and forth from the stairs. The pendulum has a freguency of maybe two seconds, and they have installed blue lights in a ring around it showing the points around the flat circle on the ground over which it has passed as the earth turned beneath it.

Go on up the stairs, then over the passageway over the bridge between the two buildings, take a left and then another.

Turn on both computers, the one is only there to ensure compatibility with some older software.

Find the record of the clock-in machine.
And start to fill out a form with the data.
One hour of work regulating work.
A waste of time if it was not for the money.

café

Climb the stairs to the side entrance of the IAS.
The Institute for Advanced Studies, the building with the cafe in its elevated first floor, the place to go for the good cup of coffee.
The man is there, serving, there is an obligation to wear masks, there are stripes on the floor marking the two meter distance apart. He has prepared for business.

There are two customers there, now there is a third.
He no longer has the email adress, he says.
He does actually, but he has forgotten the name. So write an email on the small phone, and he responds with the full name. It was on his 'phone all along.
Machines do not forget,

Drink a cup of coffee, out on the patio, a big place with well spaced chairs and tables.

Thanks to the virus,  a positive expereience in all the evil.


The man comes over, expresses his wishes, and says that he will put them into the mail.

It is a lovely sunny day.
But the coffee has grown old during the time that the place was closed.

Furious

Long before the alarm sounds, get up and go to the loo, return to the bedroom  afterwards. It is light and warm today, settle down at the desk to read the news.

There is no news.

Nothing worth talking about. or what?

No, it is four in the morning. 

There is nobody talking.

Not even in time-shifted America.

Today is the day that the building workers are due to arrive and to start their work.

The alarm clock sounds, switch it off immediately.

Then decide that the time would be right for a shower.

After that, sit down again, see if there is more news.

But there is none.

Read the story about an art critic. The story is published in an American newspaper, it is interesting, and it is lively.

Answer the ringing telephone, it is the neighbour checking on whether everything is in order. The time set for the appointment is nine in the morning, that is another hour away. The wife awakens, chat to her about the impending building work. She realises that a scaffolding is due to be set up in front of the bedroom window, so she hurries to get dressed.

At nine, leave the building and, see, there is the owner of the neighobouring house, waiting.
We chat, and we wait.
The tenant is in her office, introduce the two of them, they chat.
We wait.
Until half past nine, when he telephones the firm
Listen as it becomes obvious that the workers have decided not to arrive, they never cancelled the appointment.

Too bad, those workmen.
Go and tell the wife.
Change the hoodie for the jacket.
Pick up the bag.
She says that she will be at home all day.

Go out and tell the neighbour that this afternoon will be in order, and go to work. Go to find the tiny black car, and start the hour's journey to work.
Furious.

weather change.

Leave the house, leave the son and the wife sleeping on, or in. Walk up the street, then realise that the feet hurt, the socks are to wooly for the sneakers. That will not do, go back, up the stairs, into the bedroom, change the shoes for the black ones. They are not so tight.
Leave the house, leave the son and the wife sleeping. Walk up the street, enjoy the fresh morning sun.  The wood on the slope, the castle park, is quiet and deep green now, the sky invisible for the foliage. It rained heavily during the last week, the foliage thrived.
Later, along by the river, see that there is a man there fishing. He is using sweet corn from a tin as bait. It does not seem to work very well, but ---who knows, leave him to his fishing.
It is strange to just be walking in the sun, no particular objective, no destination.

Sit at the weather station, see that the barographs and the thermographs and the things that note humidity all show a sharp change at much the same time.


There must have been a weather change.

clean sink

The white stoneware sink is dirty, there are marks on the flat bottom. The soot from the bottom of pans maybe.
Take the plastic drum-shaped contairer from the ledge, there is a sponge inside, add a tiny bit of water and rub the kitchen sink with the sponge. Rinse it out, and the sink is clean again. It has been dirty for a week, and now it is clean.

Empty the worktop of assorted
things
that have been there for a long time now, some of them for weeks. Wipe down the worktop, water and a bit of detergent. Wipe down some of the items, throw others away.
That's better.

Do the same for the small table beside the dishwasher, the one with the coffee machine on top. That is much better now.

And now, as the work is under way, clean up the mess on the other worktop as well. That is the early morning done for, the dishwasher is now running and

what a lousy way to start the weekend.

first half of the hour

Close the door at the top of the stairs, a rickety creaking construction that needs repair. Go down the stairs, and to the front door, another construction that needs repair sometime.
Outside the house it is raining, there is a white car parked there. Two damp pigeons fly past. Walk on down the road, for some seconds. There is a black Volvo parked there, just as wet as the white car.  A black car crosses, hurrying along the Neustadt. Some seconds later it is followed by a small green car,  then a big limousine, then a white car.
Allow this traffic to pass and cross the road, leave the deserted shisha waterpipe shop to the left, also the tatoo artist's shop. The police station and the museum are on the right.

Despite the rain, there is the sound of a bird calling, maybe it is singing, maybe it is complaining. There is no way of really knowing. Ajust the rain jacket, pull the zipper, go on along the small side path beside the road.

Behind a fence to the left there is a bottle bank and a place to deposit used clothing. Two men are standing there, speaking to each other in loud voices. Both are scruffy, and they are actually shouting at each other. The one of them is wearing an orange pullover and holding two plastic shopping bags full of God knows what. Leave those two loudmouthed characters to their shouting.

The bells toll three times, it is a quarter to seven. The church is in the middle of the square to the left, the square is done up as a small park. A big car rumbles past. There, at last is the little black car, parked beside the office of the church.

That took six and half minutes, between leaving the house and reaching the car.

The radio goes on as soon as the ignition is turned, and thirty seconds later the tight little parking spot is left behind.

Enter the tunnel, there is a beacon warning of a diversion ahead. There are bright close headlights to the rear, a car is following to close.
Leave the tunnel, the final bend, and the road works have caused those traffic lights to be turned off.

Zoom through the last traffic lights before the end of town, because they are green.

The weather is grey green and wet. The sky is grey, and all the foliage is thriving and all the shades of green that it can be.

There is another beacon up ahead, more road repairs, a sign limiting the speed to seventy, then one for fifty. A bridge is being repaired.
Drive around the crane that has been placed there, following the diversion.
And turn on the cruise control at Hofham.
A quarter of an hour after leaving the house.

Pass through the yellow lights at the next road works, the car to the rear follows through, jumping the red light. Ahead, the pricing tables of the Avia petrol station glow red in the rain, they are the brightest thing around.

The radio announces the news on this Friday the fifteenth of May two thousand and twenty. The radio fails at the roundabout, because of some interference.
It is just after seven in the morning, to the left and to the right there are industrial buildings, warehouses, outlets.

And by the time the news is over, the turnoff for the motorway, the slip road, and the acceleration up to a cruising speed, follow a fast white truck down the right hand lande.

Untill it leaves the motorway at the motorway services at Moosburger Au.

cleaner

Clear the glass surface of the office table, take away the notepad, the keyboard and the mouse. Push the screen to the rear.
There is the sound of the trolley belonging to the office cleaner outside. He will wipe the table surface and the floor. It is better to have the table clear of objects so that he can wipe over it without any bother, otherwise he needs to laboriously wipe between all the things on the table. He will not lift the coffee cup, he will wipe around it. If there is a pen lying on the table, he will wipe his way around it.
So it is better to remove everything, then he just wipes over the surface.
It is no chore to replace the things later.

He is a tall man, gaunt and thin with grey hair. He is always nervous, he has some illness that has caused this, or else these are experiences from his past that cause the slow answers and retiring manner. He is well read and will give an intelligent and clear answer on all kinds of subjects, but he said that he prefers to have his peace and quiet and to clean.

There is a knock, he has arrived. Put on the mask, leave the office for the corridor.
Many people do not bother with masks.
This is probably selfish.

earthwork noise

On a grey day in the office, there is so little to do because of the danger of spreading infections. It is hard to understand that they are everywhere, and the corridors are full of people not wearing masks who believe that the virus is gone.

The news is that it is not.

Outside, the steady noise of diggers, the motors driving the huge hydraulic arms, the clatter of the shovels on the stones. They are preparing the ground for yet another new building, moving away the topsoil, digging ditches.

It is all so fast.

After such a long period of inaction.

They are digging up the damp earth, the rain has prevented the dust that would usually rise.

And a clanging noise. That is from the gas bottles being moved by the man in charge of the gas bottles in the fenced off area in the asphalt-paved yard. They are all there, the bottles of oxygen, nitogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, helium, probably others too. All supplies for the scientists.

The trouble is that there is so little work, it is boring.

But it is good to have a job, there are enough people in the world who do not.

Normally there are so many more people here

It is just after one o'cklock, and the little car hums through the village of Gruneck on it's way to Eching. That is where Ikea is, and as this house of Swedish style is open today, it should be possible to buy a picture frame for the print by Toni Stadler. This print has rested at home for the duration of the corona lockdown, now it may be possible to put it on the wall.
The car hums along on the well-surfaced side road, there is very little traffic.

The road climbs an embankment, to cross the motorway, and down the other side.
There is a red caricature of a face, a non smiley, done in red LED on there, and red numerals saying sixty.
Hit the brakes, and the smiley turns into a green smiley, the numerals say forty eight.
So it works, it slows the traffic.

Turn onto the main road at the next traffic lights, and climb up to another bridge, Before reaching this, see that there is a woman standing in the middle of the road beside her car, fumbling with a warning triangle.
Change into the right hand lane, the one that is meant for those travelling to Munich, and back again.

Think about it, the woman looked quite frightened.


At the big Ikea store, there are men in red warning jackets everywhere, pointing out where they wish the cars to go to. Follow their directions, and find a space.

In the big open space in front of the store barriers have been put up, forcing people into line. As there are few people there, it just means a long walk, back and forth. There will be many more people there this evening, after work. Then there will be a long line of people between the barriers, each keeping the prescribed distance apart. There are markings on the ground to remind people not to get to close to each other.
It is very much like inside the store. but there is no furniture to look at out here.

Finally, after what seems like a really long walk back and forth, enter the store.

Take a short cut to the place for wall decorations, the frames are kept there.

Select the frame, and  take a mirror as well.

and leave.

All told, that was a really fast Ikea visit.
Normally there are so many more people here

Go

The bells of Saint Martins Church sound five times, there is light in the window, and there is no reason to get up, not yet.
Perhaps never would be attractive. No, rubbish, there is no such thing as never, that would mean for ever.
But those bells will ring twice at the half hour, so go back to black.

It is brighter, and there are two bells. Hook the feet under the edge of the bed, and lever to a sitting position. Get up, go to the tablet, turn off the alarm, go to the bathroom, shave, shower go back to the bedroom.
Go Go Go.
Find clothing in the wardrobe, put it on

The cat seeks attention, and takes the opportunity to jump onto the knees as the shoes are being fitted.
It is nice, she curls up and purrs. Perhaps she likes the attention, perhaps she has just understood that this will lead to her being fed.
Look at the news, wonder why so many Germans are complaining. A temporary loss of freedom seems a fair trade and no robbery.

Make coffee, a slice of bread for early breakfast, feed the cat from the tin waiting in the fridge.
And pack everything that is needed for work.

Do not forget to take the pills. One for the heart and one for the piss.
Sordid, but true.

Go.

fondle

Early again, read the news, 

and realise now that there is a depression to contend with.

Not a financial one, an inability to move forward with any vigour.

The grey light from the window

The fondness of the cat

Fondle

purr.

Make coffee.

And the screaming is inward.

Please forgive this, but at the moment there is little else to do.

three

out of bed in the morning, take a shower and
and
and
look at the mess in and the dirt in the bedroom.
Get dressed
Coffee
and a slice of bread.


Start in the corner, sweep
Push the bed over.
Find a pair of shoes, forgotten some time ago
They are dust encrusted brown suede now.
Brush the dust off.
Clear the dust from under the bed, first sweeping and then with a vacuum cleaner.
Then pull the bed over the other way.
That is the wifes side, there are shoe and things so deeply caked in dust, look with disgust.
Pair the shoes.
Give the dustier ones a wipe.
There are two single shoes, all alone.
Sweep.
Vacuum.
Put the bed back

Then get a bucket of water with some detergent
start to wipe all the things, the lamp, the clock and the bottles.
The water goes black.

And when all that is done
it is three in the afternoon.

breaks down

The details of yesterday morning were different, but the general movement is much the same. Get up, wash, read the news.
Same bloody thing every day. Stuck on a merry-go-round. A magic roundabout.
The coffee machine repaired yesterday, breaks down again today.
Doesn't matter, make it work anyway. The replacement part ordered yesterday should be here next week.
Put the cat out, it wants to go into the yard to annoy the birds.

The car is there were it was left last night.
Nobody has cleaned it in the meantime. Miracles do not happen.

And on the road to work, realise that the public road racers are back, much faster as always, but not saving time at all really.

Sorry, today is not a good day.

deep blue light

The deep dark blue light from the night ending outside lights the white struts in the window. Look at the watch for the second time this morning, it is five in the morning. One of the solar charged garden lamps outside is still glowing dimly, it was well charged in the course of the night.

There will be no more real sleep, the alarm is due to go off in fifty minutes.
Why not go to work early?
so go to the bathroom and run hot water, wash the face, the back aches bending whilst bending over the sink to rinse off the soap.
Put on the shaving cream, and carefully remove the stubble of the past days.

Then take a shower, wash the sleep away.
Or try to, anyhow.


Return to the bedroom, the blue light has gone.
The sky is clear of clouds.
A set of fresh clothing from the wardrobe, and get dressed.
Sit down to put on the shoes.
The cat takes the opportunity, and jumps onto the knees.

Sit down, stroke the cat, until the cat jumps down and stands in front of the door.

Open the door, cat out, close door.
Go to the kitchen, make a cup of coffee.

Return, sit, look at the news.
Trump is at war and sick Americans are collateral damages. How dare he? He just does.

The alarm goes on, so turn it off.
Finish the coffee, and leave

For a walk through the early morning town.

two men unmasked

The room in which the big printer is kept is an enclosed space in the basement behind the big lecture hall. The one wall is covered in shelving, this is where electronic parts are stored, the other wall has cupboards with wooden doors. In the middle, a big table and a cutting machine. The two printers are both on wheels standing against another wall, together with a wheeled mobile tool case holding supplies and a computer to drive the printer.
The remaining wall has tables set up along it, these tables belong to the IT people.

Under the long table in the middle of the room there is a cardboard box full of paper cuttings and trimmings, old boxes and general rubbish. These big cardboard boxes have not been emptied for months now, since the corona crisis started.

Leave the room, turn right down the corridor putting on the mask on the way, and turn right at the junction in the corridor.

Two men are there, talking to each other. The janitor and the crystal polisher are in an earnest conversation about restrictions, neither is wearing a mask. In passing, say hello, and hear as the one holds forth that major gatherings should be allowed again.
That is strange, he sounds like an expert, but he is an electrician who has taken on  janitor duties because nobody needed an electrician. And as he is not an expert how dare he spread his stupid and fallacious opinions about, endangering the security of others.
Pass them in the corridor, maintaining some distance, and go to the post and parcel office. Ask the man there for a loan of his small trolley.

Wheel the trolley back down the corridor, the crystal technician and the janitor are still talking.
In the printing room, load the two cartons full of waste onto the trolley, and leave the room again, locking the door with the small electronic tab on the keyring.

Wheel the trolley around the corner, the men are still there, still talking, unmasked.
The one grins.
He makes a comment about a photographer disposing rubbish.
Say that there is no one else to do it.

Outside the building go over to the rubbish container and empty the boxes into the waste container.
The men are just finishing their conversation, wheel the empty boxes back to the printing room and put them back under the table.


And now return the trolley.
The men have ended their conversation and are gone.
Return the trolley, earning praise from the man at the reception there.
Check the post.
There is none there.

wait and then late

It is dark outside, the window barely lightening, it is five thirty in the morning.
It is way too early.
Still, there is no sleep just in the bed, get up and read. There is no news yet, just from America, the reality show of death at this time.
Yet there is no sleep, and things are getting light outside. The alarm sounds beside the bed, turn it off, tap the screen on the pad. The music stops.

Go to the bathroom, take a towel out of the wardrobe on the way. Start the water for the shower, it is hot quickly. Wash the hair, the hair that is getting longer at great speed, and wash the body, try to wash the lack of sleep away.
This does not work, for once having returned to the bedroom and sat down, resolving to wait and read for an hour, sleep strikes.
Go back to bed, lie down dressed, cover with a duvet.


One hour later, awake.
There is still another two hours untill the appointment.
The wife is asleep,
Make a cup of coffee, check the documents.
Make another cup of coffee.
Read a novel on the electronic pad.
Make another cup, this is silly, will not sleep for a week.

Waken the wife.
Opprobrium, she wishes to have been woken earlier.
To bad, there is no reading thoughts.

But still, there is another half an hour until the appointment
And the man from the credit union will be late anyhow.

collects the claws

Outside the office window a simple thing takes place, but one that is hard to describe in detail.
A truck backs in, the dumpster that was in a hurry to leave has to wait,
The truck is a big truck with a flatbed, and a trailer. It is driving backwards, the trailer being steered by the driver via the mirrors.
It is all happening slowly, with the fuss free precision of  experts at work.
The truck and trailer drives around the bend backwards, and straightens.
Without waiting, the dumpster drives on. It has two men standing on small platforms at the back end, the end with the huge maw that swallows all the rubbish. They look like postillions at the back of some high tech coach.

A big yellow digger approaches, it is clanking along on metal treads. It drives slowly, and stops. The arm with the claws reaches forward, and touches the ground with them. Then the arm goes upwards, the claws remain on the ground. A man comes over, attaches a chain where the claws had been, the arm rises up and the cap of the big yellow machine rotates and it rumbles over to what looks like a very large air conditioning unit. The unit is almost as big as a shipping container, huge.

The men who have been excitedly directing the truck rush over, and one climbs up onto the thing that looks like an air conditioning unit. The clawless digger approaches, there have now been webbing bands attached to the chains. The men clamber all over the unit that looks like an air conditioner and attach the webbing bands to eyes, or grommets, or whatever that are fixed to the unit. The man standing on top directs the driver of the digger to raise the machine's arm, until the chains and the webbing bands are tight. Then he climbs down.

Look away for a second, then see that the whole grey unit is swinging under the yellow arm, swaying and turning. The arm and the cabin rotate, now the grey machine with the eight big ventilators on top is swinging towards the trailer of the truck.

One of the men has taken out his mobile 'phone and is taking pictures.
Realise that they have never collected one of their units with the help of a digger before.

And with great precision, the machine is placed on the bed of the trailer.
A man comes over to talk to the driver of the digger, who has come down from his machine.
They talk, the driver of the digger has a visibly sore back,  being careful of where he stands, minding his step on the rough heaps of earth.

Then he returns to his cabin on the machine, and collects the claws.

Return to working, staring out of the window is not part of work.
Not really.

losing

Sunday morning, awake first, get up, go to the bathroom.
The head is fuzzy cannot see properly.
And there is no way to blame the drink, there has been no alcohol for well over a year now.
No alcohol for over a year, no cigarettes for over twenty.
And still all those symptoms, it would be nice to blame the social drugs.
But that is that, the drugs have not been taken.
That is it.

The backache returns

This is all not fair.
It would be nice to lie down in peace and quiet.

Make coffee.
Take to the couch in the sitting room.
Lie down, fall asleep. Even the coffee just made and drunk will not keep the sleep away.

Two hours later, wake up, realise that the wall clock has stopped,
It would be good to go out and rest in the garden.
But there is no garden,
There is now wish to attack the mess.
It is a losing battle

sausages

The restored brick walls behind the convent are covered in graffiti done in spray paint, almost indelible. All the sketchy drawings, the palimpsests. the misspelt words. These are not works of beauty, they are an expression of contempt, they are just vandalism.

Turn onto the main street at the corner by the fancy toolshop, all the carefully maintained and completely overpriced tools on display in the window. Just like a jewellery shop. Not quite as expensive.
There are people about, queing to enter the stores.This is the first weekend that many have been opened, and the people are eager to catch up on lost shopping time.

Further on, across the new market street, and down the alley with all the gift shops. Many are offering coffee to go, there is no sitting in the shops allowed. People are wearing face masks, an attempt to reduce the chance of infection. It may even work.
In the main street there are even more people under way, there are lines in front of the shops , only few people are allowed in at a time.

There is a man selling freshly grilled sausages, all on cardboard plates with mustard and a roll. He has a mask with the Bavarian flag on it, and he has no covering on his hands. Think about it, and realise that he probably understands that he will not be infected by contact with his sausages.
Hopefully he himself has no infection.
Rudely take a picture of him.

Camera shy birds

Climb up the stairs to the wrought-iron gate to the castle's park. The park is on the slope of the hill on top of which the castle is, overlooking the town, the wide landscape, and the small town. The path is steep, and then divides, on the right it goes straight up the hill, becoming steeper all the time, there are steps let into it there to make the climb easier.
Take the left hand path, it leads along the valley, then to split later, with one half going on along the bottom of the valley, the other climbing the steep side in a long serpentine. Take the high path, the one on the right. This climbs gradually through the forest of maple and other deciduous trees. On this first of May all is green, all the trees are in leaf. At the corner of the serpentine the path goes over a wooden bridge. Take a break here to look out at the trees, and the town where it is to be seen between all the foliage. Hear people coming down the hill, talking in loud voices. A young woman is talking about her parents prefering Lidl and Rewe. Keep to the outside edge of the path, let the people pass at a safer distance.

The path is very steep here, soon it is possible to see the little group of people  far below on the windings of the path. The womans voice is still clearly to be heard.
At the top of the hill, there is a park bench. Pass it, and carry on, out onto the open field at the upper slopes of the valley. The light under the trees is pleasant, listen to the rushing of the wind in the leaves. Take a picture,yet again, of light  from the sky through a canopy of leaves.
At the zoo, stop to observe the birds in their enclosure.
Take out the camera to take pictures of a flock of crows enthusiastically picking crumbs out of the grass.
They see the camera, note the attention, and they all fly away.
Camera shy birds