Peoria, Arizona during COVID-19, May 2020


It's May 6th, 2020, and the quiet little streets of my suburban neighborhood have been very quiet for over a two months now. This is the time of social distancing, the era of COVID-19, which means Coronavirus Disease 2019 (which was when it was named, last year).

I've been rolling out first thing in the morning on my wonderful recumbent trike, both because it helps with my fitness goals, and also because I just love looking at stuff, and with my bad ankle, walking is uncomfortable for me. But on the trike I can cruise around with ease. And since I'm out before most businesses are open, I like to look into the windows, and read the signs. Yes, I ride alone, and if someone wants me to stop and talk to them, I give them the cheeriest smile I can, and keep rolling.  I smile and wave to people, but I keep a generous amount of social distance. But I know that you're always with me on my adventures, and I appreciate that!

Fast food places, and even iHop, are open for to-go orders. I've noticed that most places that have a drive-through also allow people to walk in to place their order, which is nice, because not everyone has a car. I try to stay out of the way, but one morning not long ago I stopped at a Carl's Junior to get a cup of coffee, was surprised to see that the doors were locked (no, I didn't bother to read the sign), so I walked up to the drive-through window and got coffee there. There were no cars around, it was ridiculously early in the morning, and besides traffic is very thin nowadays anyway. But now I look at the windows and read.

As a time-traveler, I've often wondered what Phoenix was like before the streets got so crowded, and now I'm actually seeing it. Traffic is so light that I'm seeing people do stuff that I'd never seen before, like coming to a complete stop, and backing up, or maybe just seeing how fast their car can go on a straightaway. This past Sunday I saw that a car had flipped sideways in an intersection, and it made me wonder, because traffic there were so few cars out, it seemed as if a dog could take a nap in that intersection, and not really be bothered.

When all of this started happening, a couple of months ago, I remember thinking that people will remember this. I know that in the future, I'll be asking people where they were in April and May of 2020, and they will remember.

Thank you for social distancing with me this morning!
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Comments

  1. Maryvale ManMay 23, 2020 at 5:39 AM

    Brad has me thinking about 1950's Streets in my area. Bethany Home Road between 35th Avenue and 31st avenue was two lanes. With very wide shoulders. The shoulders were dirt On the south side of street were Cottonwood Trees. We used to climb on them. Once I was going to use a piece of loose bark as a handhold. When I pulled on it a great huge piece of bark came falling down. Under it was a gazillion small scorpions. I nearly fell out of that tree getting down.

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