Saturday, April 25, 2020

I finally take the trash out in the late afternoon. I’m almost at the gate when I realize that I’ve forgotten my mask. I think for a moment about gambling on going without it, but there are children playing outside. I don’t want to set a bad example. I go back inside then return, wearing the mask. My landlord has set up a large flag at the gate and is hanging a row of smaller ones along the fence. Independence Day is coming. I see that others have hung flags, too. A burst of purple flowers has erupted on a wall on the pedestrian street. Around the corner, the fence at a construction site is gone. I stop and look. So do other people. The apartment building has the same blocky construction as most of the others, but the exterior isn’t the usual white cement. This one has what looks like wood paneling. It’s a pleasant change. A man with twin toddlers starts to set out a blanket on a patch of grass then stops. He walks over to a dispenser near the sidewalk, pulls out a black plastic bag, then returns and picks up a lump of dog droppings with it. He deposits it in a trash can near the dispenser. He and the boys set out the blanket and sit down. Two women holding children and balloons stand by a car. One opens the door to get in and lets go of her balloon. It rises out of sight. The child in her arms waves goodbye.