Shelter in Place, San Francisco, December 18, 2020
The streets are empty, the people are gone, but it seems they’ve left small talismans behind. How else to explain the sweet little ornaments hanging on gates and sidewalk trees, ambiguous emblems of our collective state of mind? We are waiting, waiting for things to change for the better even as they get worse. As I write this, an emergency notice has come over my phone telling everyone in San Francisco they must stay indoors except for emergencies. Yesterday it was announced that anyone coming in from outside the Bay Area must quarantine for ten days. We are all cut off and waiting, waiting for the promise of Christmas and signs of better days.