Life in the trenches (aka Europe)

As I entered the final year of my 30's, the world entered the uncharted territories of the long-awaited Great Global Pandemic. I would say it's only in the last day or so that things have started to really kind of feel weird -- even unsettling. The office attendance has been dwindling slowly for the last couple of weeks but hit the precipice today where it really feels like a Ghost Town. Walking the streets of the city centre is kind of neat but also rather eery because there really are noticeably a lot less people out and about. So far (as of last night) the grocery store was business-as-usual but some small groups of products were conspicuously lacking in stock (e.g. pasta and some canned foods). I think this could quickly change perhaps over today and tomorrow especially as things are closed -- as always -- on Sunday. All schools, kindergartens, and daycares were cancelled today until mid-April (the 17th to be exact -- so far). Fun times ahead for sure. How serious are things getting? Sure, schools are cancelled, no one's at work, and it's hard to find your favourite pasta. BUT, the Starkbierfest was just cancelled. Bavarians cancelling a rich-in-history festival celebrating the creation of a beer for the sole purpose of getting through religious fasting? Something really profound is clearly happening. What's next? I suppose only time will tell.