It is Too Quiet
By: Cindy Casey
Tags: San Francisco, Pandemic Diary, Covid-19, Pandemic, Hearts

Pandemic Diary Day 4

Saturday March 28th

I live close enough to the Central Freeway that the constant hum is comforting ambient noise, a statement most likely only uttered by a city dweller. I live on the third floor and at this time of year, I always sleep with the window open, so the hum of the Central Freeway is my sleeping aid.

There is an expansion joint, I imagine, somewhere around 5th or 6th Street that creates a rhythmic thump, thump, thump all night long. The rapidity gives one an excellent sense of traffic speed and congestion.

Somewhere around 4 am last night I realized there was not a sound. No thump, thump, thump, not even a thump.

There were also no sirens. In this past week of Shelter In Place I have still heard sirens during the night, a sound that bothers me not. But last night, the loudest sound I heard was a motorcycle somewhere in the distance and the sound of a dumpster being delivered somewhere in the neighborhood.

In writing that sentence I just realized that the nightly sound of dumpsters being picked up from restaurants around the neighborhood is gone, so I wonder where that one was?

There is a massive luxury apartment building project being erected at the end of my street, construction contnues as that is considered necessary business. During the day the noise is especially intense and I realized early on it was because it was not masked by the usual San Franciso daytime ambient noise. But last night was different, the noise of San Francisco was simply gone. I was awake at 4:00 because it was gone and that is exactly what woke me.

The advantage according to NBC is that “In San Francisco, … the average concentration of fine particulate matter … over the past five days was almost 40 percent lower than the previous year.”

On another note, I was so taken aback by the lack of noise I got up and looked out at the city skyline I enjoy, and saw for the first time, a big heart on the side of the Intercontinental Hotel.

view of The Intercontinental Hotel from my window

San Francisco Hotels are either boarding up or running with a minimum of rooms, so in order to show solidarity during this crisis many are turning on lights in rooms to create giant hearts. This simple action brings not only joy to my heart, but a tear to my eye as well.

These gestures are so heart warming, and I have been crying an awful lot lately in response to these kinds of outpourings of love happening all over the world.

Trivial Things

My Horoscope for today: Don’t strain yourself trying to get others to see the light. Let them sit there in the dark. They’ll come looking for you when the time is right.

The NYT Crossword Puzzle: It is Saturday, for those that don’t know this is the toughest puzzle of the week. Medium Hard with my favorite answer being Haudenosaunee

San Francisco weather: 55 degrees and raining as I write this

NYSE: Market is Closed Today

Italian word of the day: Benda (Bandaid)

Spanish word of the day: Pantorilla (calf)

OED word of the day: anaerobe

Days under Shelter in Place: 14

Reading: Margaret Bourke-White by Vicki Goldberg

A Special Something: My girlfriend Deborah called me on her way to work yesterday and told me she had left a package on my front door. It was two Dungeness crabs! I am a native Californian, to me that is the be all and end all gift.

Deb got them from New England Lobster Company and Eatery, they are still open but have now switched to Drive Thru only.

My Black and White Picture of the Day

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