Demasiado silencio, demasiado estar en interior. Las horas se pierden, algunas pasan volando y otras se quedan estancadas... ¿sigue la humanidad ahí afuera? El diálogo interior no cesa y ya no sabe uno si es preferible estar casi solo o haber tenido una gran familia bulliciosa, la primera vez que salí de casa vi personas en la calle como si no pasara nada como si solo yo fuera la única dentro de una cuarentena interminable. Extraño pasear llevar mi cámara y fotografiar sólo por el placer de hacerlo, extraño salir el sábado y encontrarme el transporte público lleno de personas que no conozco y que hoy quisiera conocer. Ahora esa frase de "el interior es lo que cuenta" se vuelve primordial ¿sobrevivir o exponerse?... ¿cada 100 años la realidad cambia?... ¿que podemos hacer de forma individual más allá de las recomendaciones?
July 29, 2020
This last Saturday was a gorgeous day. Last minute, i said to my husband, "Why don't we ride our bikes to DC?" (We live in Maryland, just over the district line). So we loaded up with water and food and my phone with a map, and rode our bikes all the way downtown on bike paths! No cars anywhere. We rode the (Somewhat) new Anacostia River Walk trail--8 miles through Southeast DC and it was lovely. 18 miles in total for the ride. It was so great to be outside and seeing sights!. Lots of people were outside riding too, most without masks and it felt okay since it now appears it's impossible to get the virus if you're vaccinated (Which we are) and you just pass someone on the street.. Everyone was in a good mood. We stopped at a small park in DC on Capitol Hill to rest and there were lots of small groups of people congregating in the park, mostly unmasked too. It was so nice to see people gathering and feel like it was okay, not scary. It really felt like things were slowly returning to normal.. Then we rode our bikes to Union station to get the Metro home--here's the photo. Everything closed! I couldn't believe it. Usually Union Station is hopping at 3PM on a Saturday. But all the restaurants and stores were closed, even the lights were off. A lot of the shops looked like they'd gone out of business too. I guess some parts of DC haven't opened yet! I suspect in many places the "return" to normal is going to be rough. It's not just about taking our masks off and being able to go out, but making sure that people have jobs and places to live. I think it's going to be a long haul. I don't think we're out of the woods at all. But for a few hours, last Saturday, it felt like we were--and that was a great relief.
May 19, 2021