Most of America is shuttered on April 13. Like a scene from The Last Picture Show, Peter Bogdanavich’s dusty black-and-white film classic, an abandoned movie marquee and cinematic tumbleweed rolling down Main Street are the only props missing from this windswept western ghost town … a normally thriving Old Town Scottsdale retail district.
Maybe it’s sadistic, but I want to remember Scottsdale, Arizona, this way for a day. Minus the turquoise jewelry shoppers and bachelorette revelers. Absent the beer-bellied Cactus League fans peddling by on segways and scooters. Economic casualties, who left blue-sky baseball begrudgingly for at-home quarantines and early-spring Midwestern snowstorms.
There is comfort in this cataclysmic quiet. Imagining how it might feel to be the last man on earth in a 2020 episode of The Twilight Zone. Strolling down the center of the street past empty restaurants and boutiques. Modeling a mask on an otherwise stunning seventy-six-degree April afternoon. Wondering where it all went wrong.
Its nice to have a day of quiet streets. I hope the activity will return soon! Nice photo to illustrate your text. It is eerie. Never seen it like this at mid-afternoon!
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… and we probably won’t ever again. Yes, it’s definitely eerie.
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Living in isolation and not hearing any sounds from passing cars or plains has been a strange experience. It’s so quiet! Our lockdown has been extended and we are taking each day as it comes 😊 I hope all is well with you 😊 Aiva
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That’s a good strategy… take each day as it comes, Aiva. We’re doing okay here. Thanks for being such a loyal follower!
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