Going to have to rename this blog soon

A fairly sudden decision driven largely by the psychological impact of Covid-Lockdown will soon eject us from our cozy Berlin comfort-zone in search of the challenge of finding and developing another one somewhere else. 

Berlin just came out of lockdown. It was easily the longest winter we've had here, living in a largely dead city and feeling our identity seeping away with it too. To some degree you define yourself by your surroundings and when those turn frigid, dark and cancelled until further notice we started to wonder, like everyone did, of what the point is of anything. We longed to be in control of something more than the daily decision of which wall to stare at.

In that headspace new ideas start scratching at you. The initial push for moving to Freiburg was to insulate against future lockdowns: a city where the main things to do are in the surrounding mountains and forests will fare better than one defined by cultural life that can be suddenly shuttered. The stress of a move and heartbreak of parting with friends notwithstanding, we're thinking that another lockdown would not hit us as hard in Freiburg as here. 

Covid's upending of the traditional office work model facilitated such an option in the first place: the world is losing its "live within an hour of the office" mantra that has governed work since the Industrial Revolution. It seemed to be something we should take advantage of.

Aside of lockdown fears, the kids are also reaching the age where we want their independent explorations to have a bigger horizon than the playground a few blocks away, or the playdate a few U-Bahn stops away. Berlin's been ideal for their early years with its abundant parks and support for families everywhere you turn. But as Jasper & Cody shuttle into this "tweener" age we see a potential plateauing of their boundaries by staying in such a big urban environment. 

Growing older here would certainly find them expanding their horizons across the city doing urban things, but they still aren't the age to enjoy the city as adults. At age 9 Cody happily goes down to the Volkspark to play Nerf-Gun battles with friends. Nearby, clusters of young teens sit but instead of having Nerf battles they just stare at their phones. Not like that is his trajectory, but what does a teen do in the middle of a city? 

Here there's no option to easily go hiking or mtn biking or climbing: we can see already that if you don't give them options they will find it just as rewarding to sit inside and campaign for screen time. Putting other options in front of them would, we hope, inspire an expansion of horizons to include long solo rides and jumping in alpine lakes instead.

Initially, giving up mountain access of the Northwest for the Berlin experience was a fine exchange: We weren't going to be backpacking with kids at that age anyway, and expat life in Berlin provided constant culture for us and plenty of discovery and mystery for them. 

We may have come to the end of that road, so now we go back to nature & mountains, having found a house practically at a trailhead in a town surrounded by skiing, biking and sledding options.  It could all blow up in our face of course: maybe they will just want to sit on the ipad in the living room in Freiburg as well and ignore the mountains. Totally possible.

But now we are in Berlin as tourists. We stare now at this sudden truth of only having a few weeks left in this city which for years largely lacked an expiration date. For me it has highly focused my attention on every detail of life here.

The spring hit quickly as the lockdown was lifted: Voluminous green filled in all the empty spaces in the streets and parks, cafes and biergartens reopened. Once again we're doing the daily errands on quick bike rides in short sleeves. The ecstasy of the summers here is well documented, probably because the winters are so long, and now we are in the midst of that rebirth. It would have been better to leave three months ago.

Clearly there is a lot going on mentally, as seems typical for anyone getting ready for a move. 

Anyway, here are some pics of our final months in Berlin:

The Burgersteig (Bridge) over Bundesallee in the Volkspark. A constant crossing point for us.

Tabloids offer tips on how to game the system to get your vaccination appt.

Jay's birthday celebration! Channeling the model planes I used to hang in my room as a kid.

The Schöneberg S-Bahn station, frequent departure point for outings.

Tempelhofer Feld meeting with Wiebke and Coco's families. My birthday weekend was hit with another lockdown so we socially-distanced in the middle of the airfield.

First shot of the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine. Will it be over soon?

Erdmannstrasse in Schöneberg, one of the commute streets for years.

Russian graffiti on the wall at Krampnitz, one of the big abandoned bases outside Berlin. In this room someone practiced gymnastics on these things.

Admiralsbrücke in Kreuzberg, one of the iconic bridges over the Landwehr Canal.

Visiting the Sharma's barn renovation project in Toppel. Great camping weekend on this bluff overlooking the Havel river.

S-Bahn tunnel to the green of springtime in the Tiergarten.

Rudolf Wilde Park next to the Schöneberg Rathaus.

Jay's solo trip to Freiburg to see if he can roll the dice and win the lottery of signing a lease on a place.

One of the famous things I mentioned above: a trail on the mountain that intrudes right into the center of downtown Freiburg.

Jay, after winning the lottery and signing on the house. Owner's parents also happy.

Back in Berlin, we can relax a little since we know we won't be "Plan B-ing" in an AirBnB for months while trying to find a place.

Second vaccination. Beer to celebrate.

Evening walk past the Reichstag after meeting the Sharma's at the Moltke Brücke for a sundown picnic.

Riding the bikeways in Brandenburg...Jay and Jani on their last outing.

Cafe life returns. Surprising how much this scene gives me butterflies.

One thing we'd always wanted to do: the Strandbad Wannsee. And having going out there now we wonder why we didn't do it more often. Which I guess is typical.

Jasper's football club swung right back into action.

Cassandra organized a Sport Day for the kids and classmates in the Volkspark, complete with Tug of War, Nerf Gun Biathlon and relay races. It is, perhaps, her swan song of years of parental commitment with Berlin's school scene.