What Good is the Future Without the Past?

What good is the future if you can't live in the present and reflect on the past? We have to adapt and disappointments are a fact of life. I was disappointed a few years ago when I had to cancel my entry to the New York City Marathon due to lack of training and cancel our center stage tickets to the Broadway hit To Kill a Mocking Bird starring Ed Harris as Atticus Finch. I was disapponted when we had to cancel our Bike and Boat trip to the tulip fields in Holland two years in a row and I was disappointed last week in Halifax when our son Tyler wanted to go for St Louis chicken wings instead of Boston Pizza. But alas, I have done the NYC Marathon two times previously and have been to a number of Broadway shows. The Tulip Tour is on again this year and we hope to do it next April and I'll get my Boston Pizza when we get home in a few weeks. It's disappointing that Europe is starting to shut down again, due to the pandemic, and our itinerary is being sharply curtailed but we will prevail, go forward and embrace what the future holds for us. What pandemic? Arriving into Heathrow was like digging up an anthill. People were everwhere going in every which direction, backwards, forwards and up and down. A sharp contrast to Munich where the airport was like a ghost town in comparison. Having read previously that it was much cheaper to take the train from the airport to the city centre, I went in search of train tickets. Mastering the automated ticket terminal, we made our way to the city center Haupbanhauf. It reminded me of my teen backpacking days days when all I had was a Eurorail pass in one hand and a youth hostel booklet in the other. We made it to the hotel without incidences and I felt quite proud of myself, still being able to get around on our own without being hand held by some facilitator. Despite the airport being a deserted island, the downtown was anything but. Our traditional method of hop on hop off bus was to be our introduction to this world class metropolis which is the third largest in Germany.The city was severly desimated by the allied forces in 1944 and 1945 and despite the near total devistation, many old buildings, churches and museums still do exist. However, in general, the city is not nearly as charming as many other European metropolis centres. The blue trams graciously manoever the twists and turns of the Munchen straus and the Olympic Park and the BMW museum are points of interest but the city really comes to life and light when the sun goes down. Even though, by government decree, the Christmas Markets are shut down, the festive season is alive and well. The markets and the crowds may be smaller but the warm mulled wine and festive beer gardens make for an enticing encounter. The chiming of the many church bells, decorations of the Christmas boutiques and general enthusiasm of the locals are encouraging signs that life will get back to the new normal. Frohe Weihnachten!!