What a pleasant week. After making the decision to take a leave of absence from everything I had been doing (as a member as well as a leader) at All Saints Amsterdam, calm began to return. The days don’t begin and end with a spiked heart rate, and I can devote time to the things that require my attention before everything else: my private life, my home life, and my work life.

The days were wetter and colder than I had anticipated; a reminder that I never seem to quite understand what weather I have experienced before or should expect. The roads were not slippery in Amsterdam, which meant I was able to cycle to work, where my coworkers continue to be wonderful, the task at hand is challenging, and the pay-off is great.

I had booked a physio appointment a few weeks ago requesting three exercises I could easily do as part of my workout routine. “If the training you needed required gym equipment, you’d barely be able to walk”, she said. Instead, I got four exercises to train the intrinsic muscles of my ankle and foot. Fast forward a few weeks, and it turns out the exercises reset whatever damage I do standing for too long. Five minutes in the evening, and I wake up with a supple ankle, forgetting all about those crutches. I am transformed.

Valentine’s Day was excellent. After casual morning chores and website tinkering, Anja and I went to see Hamnet at FC Hyena. The day was coated in the very shallow and low-hanging sun that makes Dutch people sit outside with their coats off. After the cinema, we hung out at Ton Ton Club, an arcade that just opened a pop-up venue in Noord. We were reminded, once again, of the true pleasures of being child-free. We played some kind of Mario Brothers ghost busters game in a small, dark, loud room, me thankful for the ski gloves that protected me from an ongoing flu epidemic.

For dinner, Anja cooked a delicious chimichurri steak, and I tried my hand at accordion potatoes, which did come out fairly well, albeit less concertinaed than desired. To accompany the sourdough we bought at Hotel de Goudfazant, I made whipped butter. Unexpectedly, after months of trying, I created my first quenelle.