Springtime in Frankfurt
The place: Grüneburg Park in Frankfurt, smack in the middle of the city.
Grüneburg Park has an ideal location. To the east is the Goethe University, a sprawling modern but distinctly urban campus. To the north is Dornbusch, the neighborhood where Anne Frank was born. To the south is downtown and to the west is Bockenheim, a fine neighborhood that splits the difference between the park's green setting and downtown's asphalt jungle.
At Grüneburg Park, I have probably run enough miles over the years to cover the distance between the Alps in the south of Germany to the North Sea. Here, my kids have spent hours with their boundless youthful energy on the playgrounds, or tossed the frisbee and picnicked with their parents. I have sat idly for many hours in the Korean Gardens just staring at the brook teeming with fish while stealing the occasional glance at the pagodas.
These days, the weather is perfect. High 60's, sunshine, but not too much of it. The park is packed with people. Runners, cyclists, people taking a walk or a stroll, pet lovers, human lovers, the elderly sitting on park benches...it's like a Seurat painting of the 21st century.
When people sneeze or cough these days, there is a quick nervous glance toward the source, then an almost embarrassed jerk of the head back to one's own private sphere. Last year, sneezing or coughing rang in the allergy season, a welcome tell-tale sign that winter was finally over. Today, a sneeze or cough is as loud as a bullet.
I have honestly never seen more people in Grüneburg Park. Part of it is the joy of an approaching spring, but let's face it: people know what is happening. People know that the ax can fall at any time and they will be ordered inside, to be caged like the animals at the Frankfurt Zoo. Best to catch those rays while you can. Bavaria, by area the largest state or Bundesland in Germany, has already ordered people to stay inside their homes. Saarland was the next state with a similar order. And in the very likely event that the so-called Coronavirus curve won't flatten, Berlin will need to lay down the law, although the states will probably have the final say. The much-publicized Corona parties organized by certain student bodies don't help...but neither do some of the elderly set in their ways and wandering about freely, blissfully ignorant of how a virus travels. It's really a wakeup call for everyone.
The other day, Angela Merkel talked to the nation, appealing to the nation's reason, almost the nation's sanity. People are beginning to talk about the biggest crisis since World War II. Joachim Löw, manager of the men's national soccer team and not necessarily known to be a source of wisdom, stated that the earth is defending itself against humanity. Luckily, people aren't politicizing the problem the way they, as humans, are capable of. The trouble is, they still are humans and wish to roam. The great indoors doesn't appeal to any human, regardless of nationality.
I will run in the park tomorrow. It might be the last time, for all I know, before the government shuts me down and I will have to hang up my sneakers for the common good. For the most part, I believe we'll overcome and modern medicine will prevail. But there is also one small part of me that wonders whether Spring will ever be the same again.
Grüneburg Park has an ideal location. To the east is the Goethe University, a sprawling modern but distinctly urban campus. To the north is Dornbusch, the neighborhood where Anne Frank was born. To the south is downtown and to the west is Bockenheim, a fine neighborhood that splits the difference between the park's green setting and downtown's asphalt jungle.
At Grüneburg Park, I have probably run enough miles over the years to cover the distance between the Alps in the south of Germany to the North Sea. Here, my kids have spent hours with their boundless youthful energy on the playgrounds, or tossed the frisbee and picnicked with their parents. I have sat idly for many hours in the Korean Gardens just staring at the brook teeming with fish while stealing the occasional glance at the pagodas.
These days, the weather is perfect. High 60's, sunshine, but not too much of it. The park is packed with people. Runners, cyclists, people taking a walk or a stroll, pet lovers, human lovers, the elderly sitting on park benches...it's like a Seurat painting of the 21st century.
When people sneeze or cough these days, there is a quick nervous glance toward the source, then an almost embarrassed jerk of the head back to one's own private sphere. Last year, sneezing or coughing rang in the allergy season, a welcome tell-tale sign that winter was finally over. Today, a sneeze or cough is as loud as a bullet.
I have honestly never seen more people in Grüneburg Park. Part of it is the joy of an approaching spring, but let's face it: people know what is happening. People know that the ax can fall at any time and they will be ordered inside, to be caged like the animals at the Frankfurt Zoo. Best to catch those rays while you can. Bavaria, by area the largest state or Bundesland in Germany, has already ordered people to stay inside their homes. Saarland was the next state with a similar order. And in the very likely event that the so-called Coronavirus curve won't flatten, Berlin will need to lay down the law, although the states will probably have the final say. The much-publicized Corona parties organized by certain student bodies don't help...but neither do some of the elderly set in their ways and wandering about freely, blissfully ignorant of how a virus travels. It's really a wakeup call for everyone.
The other day, Angela Merkel talked to the nation, appealing to the nation's reason, almost the nation's sanity. People are beginning to talk about the biggest crisis since World War II. Joachim Löw, manager of the men's national soccer team and not necessarily known to be a source of wisdom, stated that the earth is defending itself against humanity. Luckily, people aren't politicizing the problem the way they, as humans, are capable of. The trouble is, they still are humans and wish to roam. The great indoors doesn't appeal to any human, regardless of nationality.
I will run in the park tomorrow. It might be the last time, for all I know, before the government shuts me down and I will have to hang up my sneakers for the common good. For the most part, I believe we'll overcome and modern medicine will prevail. But there is also one small part of me that wonders whether Spring will ever be the same again.
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