As The World Opens Up a Little, Things I've Noticed

[jesse_the_k]

My public library has re-opened. Not all the way: no community rooms (good for book groups or vidding workshops or tutoring); hold pickup area is split into two rooms to ensure physical distance; more thoughtful precautions explained on their site.

They’ve been accumulating books and magazines the whole time. The shelves are jammed full — no room for the themed spinners, or featuring a book face out. Since people couldn’t browse for a more than a year, the plastic covers are shiny.

And I could browse and wow it’s so wonderful to let my eyes feast and flitter from this title to that author to this typeface.

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Half-smoked cigarette butts have been replaced by discarded single-use masks.

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Because I’m going to continue wearing a KN95 mask for the foreseeable future — my asthma and allergies have been much better this year — I witness many awkward negotiations on the sidewalk, taking me back to the earliest days of the pandemic, before masking was ubiquitous.

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What changes do you notice?