Neighborhood path

Stay well

Fence jumping

Cobra lilies

We went out for a walk yesterday, Saturday March 21, the first sunny Saturday since citizens of the Bay Area and then California were ordered to stay at home. My wife and I started to take seclusion seriously around 10 days ago, and decided to self-isolate as best we could a week ago. As March weather here in Northern California has been good and getting ever so slightly warmer each day, the two of us have been in the habit of doing a daily 30 minute mid-afternoon stroll together on the quiet hilly suburban streets around our house, where we usually encounter one or two others. We nod or say hi to these neighborhood strangers and keep apart.

But yesterday we had envelopes to mail and food to pick up, so we decided to walk in the dedicated multi-use paths along the creek. It was a terrifying experience for me (not so much for my wife) to be honest. It appears as though everyone in the county from elementary school kids to retirees like us were out in force. The 10-foot wide pavement was hardly wide enough, with bicyclists, runners, family groups and other walkers in constant motion, or hanging out at bridge crossings having group conversations. We just tried to hold our breaths and keep to the extreme right margin, or wait for people to come and go if the pavement narrowed. On the return to our house, we illegally hopped a barricade to gain access to a dead-end footpath that was less populated, and I only felt safe once back inside with hands washed and door handles wiped down.

According to our local newspaper, it was the same scene happening in our beautiful local state and county wild parks, on Mount Tamalpais and in Point Reyes. Mobs of people, trying to escape their confinement and get needed fresh air and sunlight and space.

So now I think we will go back to the little street outings from here on out. The sky is the same, the trees are in flower and it’s sad to say, fewer possible virus-spreading humans to encounter.