Florida is a disaster and a half right now, and I have a lot of curse words I could add to that, but suffice to say that my anxiety is rocketing pretty high. Self-soothing self-care is the operative policy of the day…most days in fact.
Which includes walking Keely every morning. The fierce rains we had yesterday afternoon put down a layer of damp and fallen flora, mostly in the form of puddles and broken tree limbs. But it was all small-stature damage here in mid-town, nothing serious.
It’s hard to escape the covid-19 situation, though, walking around and seeing no one at the Circle K wearing masks, nor at the very busy new crossfit studio at the corner of 7th and Monroe.
About the only thing reflecting changed times is that Golden Corral is still shut down, which I honestly find surprising. Every other restaurant is open and making minimal effort to enforce social distancing, and none of the customers come or go with face masks. I suppose a buffet with mass seating would just be too hard to even pretend to keep to disinfectant standards? Which is responsible of them, anyway, even if it poses a crisis for all the people who (used to) work there.
I definitely prefer the earlier-morning walks, especially going into summer proper. Few people and lower temperatures make for a pleasant traipse around the pond, our only hazards being the Canada geese. The large flock is back and squawking about it, blocking the sidewalks at will. Keely, as I have noted, will NOT engage.
As I mentioned to a friend on the twitts, I am noticing more automobile-based homeless people these days, which I suppose is expected. They sit around, bored or asleep (the only true states of being homeless, honestly) in cars packed full of what they could salvage or what they need, with windows cracked for air. Some wash clothes in the bathroom sinks and spread them out over hoods and trunks to dry, waiting for the sun and, I suppose, salvation.