2020 Presents:

Close Encounters with the Selves You Meet in Quarantine

The Story I Should’ve Skipped Because It’s Not about Coronavirus

I bet I’ve checked the weather more in the last month than I have in my whole life.*

I’ve known since last Thursday that today was going to be the coldest day this month. I’ve been dreading it for days. And now I know that starting tomorrow, we’ll be home free. From here, it’s straight on ‘till summer.

To celebrate, I yelled “Goodbye Cold Day!” on the sidewalk this afternoon, standing on an empty street between two tall buildings. I’m sure nobody heard me.

It was just a quick call to say, “I’m still here.” The kind of exclamation that lets the vast void of uncertainty all around us know that, well, I don’t plan to go quietly, at least.

It felt good to hear the echo too, because even when there’s no one and nothing around but emptiness and unfamiliar landscape, it’s comforting to hear a voice, even if it’s your own voice, only quieter. Maybe it’s comforting because you can trick yourself into thinking it’s someone else, maybe you’re just hacking the lizard part of your brain with acoustics.

Or maybe we wait for the echo to learn something, subconsciously, about the…