most relatives are still in the area. Nobody really gets together though.

Same-ish. The exceptions are birthdays of the older generation and the inevitable funerals.

I scroll through all a few times a day (...)

I try to do that only twice or thrice per day. Usually I combine it with looking at news/reports and maybe post or comment. But I tend to avoid fights or communities that are more about drama than actual content or analyses.

I wouldn't say I've disengaged from politics, but I feel as a citizen any vague notion of influence a regular person had in the direction of our leaders has been crushed. There doesn't seem to be much point in interacting with our officials, and other than waiting to vote in the upcoming primary, I don't know much that would impact my feelings on things. There's no Republican I need to pay attention to. It's all lies, and any I'd consider decent left during Trump's first term. I don't like a lot of the Democrats either, as they seem ineffectual, but with our voting system, the primary seems the only spot where I need to focus on making an actual judgement on who would be decent.

I feel you. News from the US are disheartening and sad most of the time. But I chose to believe that people can still make a difference.

I'm really unhappy about some developments in Germany and how our politicians are dealing with it. So sharing news or talking to people irl and fighting some of the misinformation or straight up lies is something that I can do.

I didn't mean to imply anything negative.

No worries! That’s not how I understood your question. I hope I didn't come off as impolite. Guess we're having our first moment where cultural differences play into communication (and me not being a native speaker might add to that). Germany is considered a low context culture. The US is leaning more towards a higher context culture. So Germans tend to take most spoken/written communication at face value, while people from the US tend to also rely on unspoken clues. If you ask someone from Germany how they're doing - expect an honest, potentially detailed answer. 🫣😂

We have people do some crazy things. Someone dropped off a bat after hours and put it in an Amazon box. They didn't leave it at the front door either, but off to the side of the building near the parking lot, coincidentally where the packages are usually dropped off, so not only did this poor bat sit out overnight in the cold, but no one grabbed it first thing in the morning because everyone thought it was just a routine delivery of supplies.

Well-meaning and making smart decisions doesn't always go hand in hand. I hope your poor bat did well after its delayed delivery.

I am glad your little buddy just needed some warmth and you were there to provide it.

Thank you. I was happy that I've found it and could provide shelter. And simply glad that it did so well and didn't need additional help after all.