I fall in love with my city each year as Spring approaches.

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When the days get long enough for me to take some pictures, it's like I finally have a way of paying proper attention to all the details around me.

Over the long winter we New Englanders keep our heads down and our hands in our pockets, and the streets are something to navigate and get through. We don't want to notice things. We just want to get home.

But Spring is a rebirth. A time for taking pleasure in the ordinary and remembering how grand it can be.

However this Spring is different. There's a virus in the air, and everyone's been told to stay home. That doesn't bode so well for my style of street photography, which is to get up close with a wide-angle lens and hope for the best.

On the other hand, I'd like to tell you that this is a ghost town. That the streets are deserted. That I've seen nought but zombies and paramilitary soldiers. Everyone wants to live in a movie, I suppose. And the fun thing about this virus is we're supposed to self-quarantine. We can stay home and watch the movie unreel on the news while simultaneously living it.

In truth, things are, like, a little quieter than usual. But not really that different. We've still got to sit on trains and crowd around construction zones.

Kids are still going out for coffee and snacks.

And I've only seen two face masks; the one that led this story, and this more festive pussy face.

Shelves in the convenience stores are a little light, but despite the over-hyped network news, people are stocking up with reasonable purchases.

And while there might be a little more "social distancing" than usual...

For the most part things are fairly relaxed.

It's funny. I could walk through the middle of a crowd and tell you things were booming here, or I could hold back for 30 seconds and tell you, "Yeah, Boston's dying. Nobody's going there now with this virus and all." The truth would be somewhere in the middle.

As far as Steemit goes, I'm still confused about whether to post this to a community, or my blog. There's half a dozen communities with "Photo" in the name; none have more than five subscribers. Maybe I should join one and contribute? Maybe I should start one of my own? "Candid Pre-Pandemic Street Photographers of New England"? Anyone? Like and subscribe? Donate to my Patreon?

I think I'll just stick with the blog for now.

All of these pictures were taken in the past two days. I'm especially pleased with the light in this final photograph, with the small cluster of people descending to the empty platform.

I'm gonna follow them down and try not to worry too much. But I'll still wash my hands.

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^{Camera divider and signature illustration by @atopy.}

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