Coronavirus Diary: April 9, 2020

“Will we be okay if we eat carrots?” I hear a small boy ask his (presumed) mother as they approach me on the sidewalk, and I step out to the street’s bike lane to let them pass at an appropriate social distance.

Today I walk to the local cemetery, while Kim and Charlie exercise in the nearby Tietan Park, all but empty. In contrast, a quick count of walkers within eyeshot among the trees and tombstones comes to twenty-three as I duck into another row of graves to avoid oncomers.

Walking along the street, approaching walkers negotiate for safe passage, often silently, but almost always with a wave, if not a cheerful morning greeting. In two instances, dog walkers stop from across the street and engage in conversation with me and I make impromptu portraits of them and their charges. One notes the irony of the utter splendor of this spring day in contrast to our shared existential fear.

Then I return home to await the YouTube premiere broadcast of Radiohead’s 2000 Dublin concert.