Jun 9, 2020
Reopening, Day 1
A new chapter for this journal
It’s Day 1 for the NYC reopening and the 100th day since the first “official” coronavirus case (though the first actual cases were probably a couple of months before that) . The Times has some good pictures taken around the city of what the first day of Phase 1 looks like.
When I went on my walk today, I saw workers making repairs in the Gardens. This kind of work wouldn’t have been allowed before the reopening unless it was considered essential:
The danger is not over, yet, though, and we still have to be careful. Masks are still a thing. In fact, the city was giving out free masks in my neighborhood today, along with “NYS Clean” hand sanitizer (made by prisoners?).
Ironically, people at these give-away events tend to bunch up and ignore the social-distancing rules. I’ve been avoiding them before but went today because I am trying to be less skittish. I got three free paper masks — exactly like the ones I had bought on Amazon — but the hand sanitizer was gone by the time I got there.
Meanwhile, it’s getting warmer. I appreciate the partial shade that the Garden’s big trees provide:
And once again, there was a spectacular sunset tonight:
Yesterday, I started reading White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo. I’m also still reading Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. I have that in a library hardcover and have been enjoying my very extended loan, but I will have to return it eventually: the libraries are hoping to reopen in mid-July.
So here I am, in my little corner of the city, staying within a 3-mile radius from home, but beyond that, there are great historic forces being unleashed. This feels like not just the beginning of a reopening, but the beginning of a whole new era.
