A Saturday With A Difference.

Solitude abounds.

Isn't it strange that most of our lives we long for periods of solitude where all the shackles of our everyday life are taken off and yet, now that by decree we are to do just that for the next few weeks, we think of it is as an imposition. Silly, but human nature I suppose.

Going for my walk this morning was a bizarre experience. Not a soul to be seen except one man walking his dog who once he espied me behind him, put foot so as not to meet up with me. Honestly, I would have made a huge detour around him anyway. Oh, and a bunch of local men who seemed to have taken this crisis on a light shoulder. There they were shooting the breeze, literally!

Today Chancellor Kurz and his cabinet announced a financial rescue package to be available from early next week in order to keep people employed and businesses ( and the economy ) from going under. This government, which many at the time thought a bit iffy, has and is proving to be a godsend. They are a young team and they mean business. No empty promises and from what I gather, they have realized how perilously close we are to the cliff. A whole country, continent and world standing still for weeks on end was the stuff of Hollywood movies only last year but is now our new reality. It is going to be hard for many but with the right leadership we will get through it as safely as possible.

Some more parts of Austria have been quarantined and so it might happen to us. Already there are two confirmed cases in our Oberwart district who have already been placed under home quarantine.

Thankfully the landline works...I am not visiting my folks until the worst is over. Mysterious packages might land over their fence full of immune boosting stuff and perhaps a bar of 85 % dark chocolate, but otherwise we will be extra cautious.

Biggi