I'm just back from a trip to the post office (thank you to everyone ordering things - this is making things feel much, much better and normal-life-like), followed by a little bit of shopping. The latter was necessary because our milk consumption has gone up noticeably with the Most Patient of All Husbands working from home as well.

Going shopping feels very, very weird. There's marks on the floor everywhere where queues are expected - in front of the butcher's counter, at the bakery, at the cashier lanes. The cashiers are now protected by plexiglass shields, and there's a security guy standing close to the market entrance. There was no scarcity of things in the market, though (except for peanut butter, but that has been the case for a good while, and even that was available today).

Quite a few of the things that are now expected, or asked, carry their own subtle humour for me. For instance, Germany has always been a cash country, with very little card payments, and never for small sums. Usually and in most shops, it wasn't possible to pay per card for sums under 10 €. Now, signs are everywhere asking people to pay with card, even contactless card, if possible, to protect the cashiers. We're being dragged kicking and screaming into the century of the fruitbat; today was the first time in my life I paid with contactless card. Twice (for the groceries, and for the bread in the bakery), and the latter was 2.60 €. That would have been unthinkable both for me and the bakery a few weeks ago. (I'm very much a cash person too, and at the moment, I plan to go back once this is all calming down. But who knows how I'll think about this in a few weeks' time? We shall see.)

Another kicking and screaming thing, for many among us, is the video conferencing that has now suddenly become the way to meet. There is no more talk of quickly flying here or there for a day of meetings; there's much more working from home, and home office is suddenly possible in companies that have never wanted it to happen.

Also, it used to be considered quite impolite and unsocial to change to the other side of the street if you saw somebody coming towards you. Now it is suddenly a sign of respect and politeness, and I've had people smile and nod at me in appreciation.

It's a weird world right now, but some things are worth noting, and remembering for our future. Like how quickly things can change, and how quickly most humans can and will adapt their behaviour. And also how much is possible if those running the country decide that it is important, and has to be done...

It's nice and bright and sunny outside, though it is still quite cold, and it was freezing (-4°C) during the night. Life still feels weird, we're still nice and secluded, but I will have to do a post office run now.

While I will do that, enjoying the sun, and later enjoy a cup of coffee (at home, of course!), you might enjoy a laugh with this German telling the difference between Germany and the US:


Laughing, after all, they say, is good for your health :)

Also... is there something I can do on this blog to help getting us all through this crazy time? Suggestions are very welcome!

Pantone decides on a "Colour of the Year" each year, and for 2020, their choice is "classic blue". As a blue-loving person, I do approve... though I like all kinds of blue, not only classic.

Science has a little news article about what our modern civilisation will leave behind for future archaeologists. (Or alien xeno-archaeologists, if humans go extinct.)

This link will bring you to an image of a tablet-weaving frame in a medieval manuscript. Just because.

The Museum of London has a post about pointed shoes (and sodomy!).

Storm Sabine has passed, and here in our spot, she was quite gentle - there was wind, yes, but I've seen stronger winds, and more rain, so altogether there was much less of a storm than the warnings and predictions had indicated. There even were bouts of sunshine inbetween - it was a little like April on speed.

I spent the past two days mostly indoors, which I would have done storm or no storm - I had a nice sunny quarter of an hour for my trip to the bakery yesterday, and today was mostly nice again, with one shower of snow in the morning. Altogether there was actually more sun during these storm days than on many of the previous days this winter; enough sun to heat the main part of our living space via the wintergarden. Go figure.

There might be more stormy weather coming up during the next days - we'll see what happens, and I hope it won't be too bad...

I confess I'm rather fond of these silly, slightly arbitrary International Thing Days - and one of the funniest among them is today:

Hug A Medievalist Day! Today's more general, though, it's Hug a Scientist Day.

So in honour of that, here's a medieval hug, brought to you courtesy of the Rijksmuseum:



This, by the way, is the Meeting of Joachim and Anna, dating to about 1470. Go to the Rijksmuseum page to learn more about this statue.

Just in case, now that the time of manger scenes is approaching, you'd like to take a look at some impressive bovines, you might want to click your way over to the Auerrind-Projekt. It's a try to backbreed to the wild Auerochs which went the way of the Dodo in the 17th century.

Though what is lost stays lost, trying to re-breed to a wild form is a way of trying to get more diversity in species - something which is always a good thing. The Auerrind-Projekt is also part of the larger project "Rewilding Europe", which is aiming to conserve and promote animal wildlife across Europe - and their site is also worth checking out, not only for the spectacular pictures of wild animals.

Here's a few links for you, in hopes you'll find something enjoyable!

The new Knitty is out - Winter 2019 edition, with several patterns for sweaters and cardigans plus, of course, the seasonal hats and mittens.

There's a half-hour video online, in German, about cargo bikes in Nuremburg.

John Scalzi is, as every year, doing the Gift Guide Thing on his blog - Day Five is charities, but you can also find four other threads with books and craft-related gift ideas.

ancienttools.net is a blog about experimental archaeology, mostly concerning metalworking - but there's quite a bit of textile stuff inbetween.