I don't really enjoy the Carnival time in Germany. We do get a day off at work, but many things in Wuppertal are closed so that people can go to the parades. I did go to the supermarket early this morning, having learned that they may close in the afternoon, but will not bother to put a sign up.
I watch the parades on TV. People wear this strange costumes and wigs. It doesn't look very Christian to me.
When I was at school I was in the air training core and the scouts. I am pretty sure we marched on parades in Knutsford. I can't remember what the event was, but it was probably for St Georges day. When I was in my early 20s, I went for a pub lunch with my mum. After the food we watched a parade. I had two pints of beer inside of me, dressed in jeans and old ratty t-shirt. I watched the smart children walk by in their precise uniforms. "Thanks God, I don't have to do that anymore". I thought.
Perhaps I am depressed that everyone is having fun, but I am stuck in a room on my own, looking out on a forest of dead trees in a dried ocean of dirty ice. Part of the problem is that I am not taking pleasure from simple events.
My mood lightened when I read the news about the Pope. On TV I saw one woman say, I can't think about the Pope today, it is the time of Karnival -- it is the time for fun.