![\"car\"](\"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/car-300x225.jpg\")
On March 13, I filled the car with gas because we were planning a trip to visit my sweetheart\u2019s mother for her 90th birthday. But the next day we both woke up feeling a little under the weather, so we decided we shouldn\u2019t go.<\/p>\nOn March 13, I filled the car with gas because we were planning a trip to visit my sweetheart\u2019s mother for her 90th birthday. But the next day we both woke up feeling a little under the weather, so we decided we shouldn\u2019t go.<\/p>\n
Four days later, the Bay Area set up a shelter-in-place to slow down the pandemic.<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t put gas in the car since. According to the gauge, there\u2019s about three-quarters of a tank available.<\/p>\n
At a rough guess, I\u2019ve driven the car about a hundred miles in the last six and a half months. To put that in perspective, I\u2019ve walked about 850 miles in that same period.<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s not unusual for me to walk more than I drive when I\u2019m not traveling. I live in a very walkable neighborhood. And I\u2019m even driving to run some errands right now; when you buy two weeks worth of groceries at once or are picking up a farm box instead of browsing the booths at the farmer\u2019s market, a car is useful. <\/p>\n
But it\u2019s road trips that put the miles on my car, and I haven\u2019t been on any. I\u2019ve only left my neighborhood a few times. Those walking miles were built up going around the block and occasionally venturing to the next neighborhood over to pick up books from the library or the bookstore, both of which have very efficient curbside pickup.<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t taken public transit since mid-March, either. Which is to say, I haven\u2019t been much of anywhere except around the block for a long time.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s getting old, but I\u2019m not planning to change the pattern much. I\u2019m meeting up with friends for distanced walks (wearing masks), but the pandemic is far from under control.<\/p>\n
Lately, though, the pandemic hasn\u2019t been our only worry. We\u2019ve got wildfires up and down California, and while they haven\u2019t posed a risk to my neighborhood, the smoke from them has seriously affected our air quality.<\/p>\n
A lot of people saw the pictures of the San Francisco Bay Area with the orange sky a few weeks back. Yep, that\u2019s what it looked like from my bedroom window.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not as bad this time, but as I write this I\u2019m inside with the windows shut. It\u2019s warm outside and we don\u2019t have air conditioning because most of the time in the Bay Area you don\u2019t need air conditioning. I also haven\u2019t done the walking I wanted to do today, because I don\u2019t want to breathe that smoke.<\/p>\n
Now I know I\u2019m lucky. I haven\u2019t caught the virus. No one among my family and friends has died from the virus, though some have been quite sick.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t have to go out to work or otherwise risk my life to make sure I have a place to live and food on the table.<\/p>\n
I live with someone I love and we figured out early on that we were comfortable living together in a small space. So I\u2019m neither isolated nor overwhelmed by lack of personal space.<\/p>\n