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Today is the summer solstice celebration, Sant Joan, in Barcelona.  According to the locals, this marks the longest day of the year.  The period of the most light, which is one of the reasons why they celebrate this occasion with fire.  They call Sant Joan’s eve (23 June) “Nit del Foc” or Fire Night. There are fireworks (petards), bonfires (fogueres) and occasionally a correfoc (see Festa Major- Day 3).  The locals drink Cava (sparkling wine) and eat Pan de Coca (sweet bread with cream or sweet dried fruits).  There is music, dancing and a variety of merriment all through the night.  Everyone warns us that we will not be sleeping much this evening.  For me personally, this is usually the time of year when I take a moment to reflect on the progress of the year to date and the status of my life.  It happens that my birthday is also around the time of the estival solstice.  Thus, the process of aging another year generally gives me pause and motivation to pontificate.   This year is no exception.  

I have to say that 2020 started off exceptionally well for us.  You will remember that we celebrated New Year’s Day with the start of our Greek adventure (See a Greek New Year).  It was colder and wetter than we expected, but we still managed to enjoy all the sights we wanted to see in Athens and every moment of our time there together.  The weather in Barcelona in January was chilly but sunny with only periodic rain and we were frequently able to stroll around outdoors and explore the neighborhood.  One trip through Pedrables, we stopped at a nursery and purchased many plants, including lettuce, that would become a vital part of our patio garden in the coming months.  On the same trip, we shared a picnic lunch near the lovely local monastery and enjoyed ice cream treats on the walk back home.  Allita and I discovered a Mr. Park playground with trampolines just around the corner from the house.  She practiced several times until she managed to repeatedly perform a complete flip and land on her feet.  Ta Da! We spent one entire Saturday visiting the Hospital of Saint Paul (Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau) and then walked on to the Sagrada Familia and had another picnic lunch.  Another Saturday, we spent hours at Montjuic completing an exciting scavenger hunt that took us all over the hilltop fortress and through the gardens. We took a weekend trip to Lisbon in late February (see Our View of Portugal).  A few days later, we celebrated Sant Medir with the locals and Allita followed the parade, collecting as much candy as her bag could hold.  In another few days, Allita and I took a ski trip to Andorra (see Let’s Go Skiing).  Looking back, I suppose that’s about the time our year started to go a little off-track.  

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13 March 2020 started like any other day.  We ate breakfast.  Allita and I walked together to school.  At 4pm, Mom left the apartment to collect Allita from school and walk together back home – a process that normally takes about an hour.  By all appearances, it was a “normal” Thursday.  Around 4:15pm, I received an email from the school that all students needed to collect their books and personal items and prepare for the school to shut down for an undetermined period.  That was the day when we first became aware of the immediate impact of SARS-CoV-2.  We had been following the spread of the virus and were aware of its presence on the planet, but it still felt surreal. Something we could hear about but not directly associated. Like the creature from the 1958 movie, “The Blob”, the virus was this growing, destructive and evil presence that was spreading, out-of-control all over the world. Suddenly it was here.  In our town.  I, of course, was unaware of the last-minute email from the school and poor Mom and Allita had to lug home 50 pounds of books and chattel that Allita had acquired and stored in her desk and locker.  Thankfully most of their 2km walk was downhill; although I did start to worry after a couple hours.   

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The next day, we were somewhat more informed, now having read and translated most of the local and national newspapers.  While Spain wasn’t formally initiating their official quarantine measures until Monday, 17 March, Catalonia was not to be outdone by the government and had decided to immediately and completely close all businesses, restaurants, bars, hotels, banks, etc. except pharmacies, grocery stores and hospitals effective Friday, 14 March.  Although, businesses open that day were allowed to remain so until midnight.  No wonder our mid-day play date with a school friend at Jardins de ca n’Altimira, a local hilly park with lots of fun bridges, was crowd-free and our choices for afternoon tea were so incredibly limited!  We walked home down Mejor de Sarriá and saw lines of masked customers standing 2 meters apart outside the pharmacy.  We tapped on the window of our favorite local German restaurant, BestWurst, to see if they were open and if we could purchase some dinner.  Little did we realize that this would be our last time eating restaurant food until 7 May!  Nor could we have guessed that this day would be our last day OUTSIDE as a family strolling around on terra firma until 26 May!  

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So, if first quarter 2020 started off with a bang and ended with a fizzle, then second quarter 2020 started off with a moan and ended with a sigh.  There were some highlights worth mentioning from the second quarter: Allita’s school did an AMAZING job with online education.  Classes were held daily from 10am until 5pm with a brief morning break and an hour off for lunch.  Looking back, we all believe she processed more work and probably learned more during this remote educational period than she did while on campus.  Every night, at 8pm, our entire family listened for the church bells and made our way to our little balcony where we joined all of our neighbors in applauding the healthcare and essential workers who were tirelessly and selflessly fighting the brave fight against this invisible foe.  We clapped, cheered and waved.  We sang and chatted – leaning over our balustrade to see their happy faces and “visit” from the required social distance.  We learned to be creative in finding ways to be physically active indoors without bothering the neighbors with our boisterousness and heavy-stepping feet.  For example, I re-discovered how to successfully hula hoop and, eventually, became the family champion of Twister.  Not to mention all the mini-golf we played!  My Castellano improved enough that I could successfully order an entire meal from the nearby burger restaurant and, after some initial surprises (“ummm, what is this?”), I became accomplished at online grocery ordering and delivery.  So proficient, in fact, that I doubt I will utilize any other method for the near future.  Lugging heavy carts of food home over cobblestone sidewalks after spending an hour social-distanced grocery shopping while wearing PPE is not a desirable task, I promise you.  We practiced our art skills, our music skills, our gardening skills, our lingual skills, our gaming skills, our teamwork skills, our communication skills, and so much more.  Finally, and perhaps, most importantly, we discovered that we have the strength, patience, kindness and love to be able to live together in a confident space with only one tiny balcony for weeks on end without any serious drama or emotional damage.  That actually came as a bit of a surprise.  

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All-in-all, 2020 has not precisely been the year I had envisioned.  The country is reopening now.  Life is beginning anew.  There are changes, yes.  Differences in how we behave (2 meters apart) and how we dress (masks and gloves), but we are slowly, gradually coming out of our shells, stretching our legs and rediscovering the world around us.  I have hope that the remainder of 2020 will be better than the first half.  We ate at an outdoor restaurant this week.  I went shopping in the mall yesterday morning.  We are making travel plans again.  So, we had a bump in the road.  More like a middle-of-the-intersection pileup actually.  But we all survived.  Why spend valuable time looking backwards and pointing fingers or lamenting over what could have or should have been?  Life is far to short and precious to focus on the negative.  As my grandmother used to say “there’s no sense in crying over spilled milk”.  

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What do my mid-year reflections tell me? Every day has something good about it.  Even the worst day you’ve had all year.  Even in a year filled with global death and multiple disasters (fires, famines, plagues, earthquakes, etc.)  Even in a year when many of your plans were quashed and your entire life was turned upside-down and inside-out. There is always happiness somewhere to be found and always something for which you should be grateful. 

And what will I be celebrating during our Sant Joan holiday festivities?  The joy of living, of course.  Every single day.  Every single minute.  Because, as 2020 has reminded us, the alternative is so much worse.