Despite my romantic post a few weeks ago spring hasn't been pushing through - it's been incredibly rainy and today even stormy. Lots of wind, sometimes so hard it temporarily blows the clouds away so the sun can come through - but quickly the clouds return again.
I realized it is so different from last year - It was my birthday last 19th, and where last year I had people coming over to sit outside since it was so sunny and summery, this year everyone was sulking in their homes.
It didn't help a loved one had their second operation in a short time, so my b-day basically existed of waiting with my family members on that phone call that would relieve is of the anxiety that something went wrong - luckily everything went fine and so that was the most important part of my birthday - a healthy person, now on to recover from two operations in a few weeks time.
Just a short update and a flower pic - trying to get back to writing a bit more often.
Happy belated birthday, Rosa! I think the spring is weird all over Europe, just like the winter was... Hopefully the summer will be ok at least :)
Thanks for the b-day wished @phortun! Damn, summer should've started already! Last year I had been outside for 2 months by now, I remember when in March everything closed down but I was like 'I don't care because the sun is shining and I can be outside with coffee and a book' :-) Nothing of that this year :-(
Well, you know why the weather has been like this? Because after several long years that we spent in the tropics and subtropics, we have been back to Central Europe now (thank you covid) and this is what we have got - the ugliest winter and spring in years. Still have some hopes for the summer though... So now you know why, sorry about that :D :(
Downvoting @phortun from now on
🤣
Happy belated birthday, glad the operation of your friend went well and you are wanting to post more. Come over and play some @photogames!
Thanks for the b-day wishes @sjarvie5! Yes, well, if I can keep up writing for a while I'll see if I can also spend some time doing @photogames as well! :D I really would love to <3
So awesome!
:-)
Happy belated birthday. It is a lovely picture of the daffodil. We have had a few nice days, not many yet spring seems to be taking its time this year. One more week and it should be safe to start getting flowers to plant and leave outside.
Glad all went well for the operation person, hospitals kind of suck, but sometimes are needed.
Thanks a lot @bashadow! Good to see you here :-)
Hope spring indeed comes through for you as well, soon, here it seems to at least be a wait of 2+ weeks. It's normally not so much on my mind, but with the limitations the pandemic already brings us in terms of moving freely, being able to be outside seems like a bigger factor.
Yes, hospitals suck, but the person is at home now and from what I could see is recovering well - although still in a lot of pain. Hope that goes away ASAP :-)
Happy belated birthday to you @soyrosa! I'm very glad to hear your relative came through the operation okay! When does it look like the weather stabilize in your part of the world?
Thanks for your b-day wishes @ericvancewalton!
Well, the weather is 'stable', in the sense of rain + 12-15 degrees Celcius for a few weeks now, lol! But before that we had both a Cold Flare from the North Pole and right before that a Heat Flare from Africa, so yeah, it has definitely been interesting. Normally I would expect May to be full of sunny days and about 18 degrees Celcius, which is sort of my favourite weather :D Warm enough to enjoy the warmth of the sun on the skin, but not too warm so you start avoiding being active outside :-)
How's life on your side of the globe?
You're welcome! Spring is volatile like that here too but it's finally feeling "summer-ish". Life is beginning to get somewhat back to normal here. We ate inside at a restaurant yesterday for the first time in over a year and roller skated for the first time this morning. Are you guys still on some form of lockdown or restrictions over there?
Whoa - inside restaurant eating?! :D Lucky you! We just returned to outside/terrace openings, no inside meet-ups in restaurants yet. So yeah, basically all the restaurants are praying for good weather as well, because they finally can open their shops again but now the weather isn't terrace-friendly at all :-/ And yes, this means we're still partially locked down, I'm very underwhelmed by our governments handling of this crisis, looking jealously to New Zealand's amazing leadership - and Biden at least seems to have done well on rolling out a very effective/tight vaccine program.
We'll see, to me this past year personally was GREAT, have been able to (ironically) work on my health and future in a constructive way, so yeah, I'll come out of this pandemic better than I got in :-)
Enjoy your 'normal-ish' life over there! You deserve some great dinners in good restaurants :-)
Yes! Honestly, eating inside after not doing it for over a year was a little anxiety-inducing. I think there's going to be a lot of that to deal with upon re-entry into normal life again. I'm pretty happy with how this has been handled in the last few months. We still have nearly 50% of the population who believe the vaccine is harmful and/or unnecessary but I'm hoping enough people have taken it to flatten the curve.
So happy to hear you've been able to work on your health and future during this time. It's been nice to have the time and lack of "noise" to do that kind of thing. Yay you!
We're looking very forward to continuing our exploration of your part of the world. Hopefully we can get onto a plane this fall and spend some time over there again.
Ha, yes, I believe some people will do well with 'Back-To-Normal' coaching programs :')
Indeed, being able to live without 'noise' has been pretty much a huge gift. I've seen it in many people around me, many of the more introverted type, they really have been able to lower stress a LOT and were therefore able to think of other things than work and commute. Really makes you think about how we're all living our lives huh?
Hope you're able to get back to traveling soon indeed! If you're somewhere in a reasonable distance from my city one day we should definitely meet up :-) I'm only 2,5 hours by train from Paris for example :D Anyway, enjoy dreaming about it at least!
I think I may've released my Mindful Moments book a little too early last year. It might have been a better to launch now that people are reentering society. Lol
This break was a great opportunity to reassess the lives we're living. I would never want to go back to working for anyone else after this. Previous to this people were spending so much time away from their homes and families, especially here in the U.S.
A meet up sounds wonderful. We talk a lot about visiting Amsterdam again. I'll be sure to reach out with dates the next time we're in the vicinity! You are so lucky over there to be able to travel from country to country in just a few hours. That kind of freedom would be pretty amazing.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Perfect
:-)
looks like spring is half canceled.
Right? Is this the case all over Europe? It sucks.
Thanks for the b-day wishes :D
we had rain for 3 days, today was sunny and nice, now it looks like it will start to rain with a mix of end of the world 🤷♂
Hahahaha - horrible. Did you watch Eurovision? Because there's nothing else to do currently?
i seen some of it, was there something really crazy? :D
i was filming and editing some ecology video for some friends so had less free time. and photogames :)
Hehe - it's good to watch it in the background. I didn't expect much of it but then I ended up enjoying most of the songs so I was surprised :D
It has been a rainy time here in Iowa as well. A belated happy birthday.
Rain can be a great relief for nature and to have an 'excuse' to hide in your comfy home, but this year I need summer more than ever :D Enjoying the outside in a Pandemic is pretty much necessary for mental resilience ;-) Thanks for the b-day wishes! :-)
A late Happy birthday to you my dear!!! 😘