The weather is now warm enough that I
was able to work out in our
screened-in porch today. It was really
quite nice and I enjoyed the day
immensely.
Usually, we change over the winter
tires on the car some time in April.
That didn't happen this year because
of the COVID-19 business, so I dropped
the car off at the shop and walked
home this morning. It's about a half
hour walk. I listened to the History
of Japan podcast on the Buddhist monk
Nichiren. I highly recommend the
series. Isaac Meyer has done over 300
episodes and has covered almost every
aspect of Japan's past. Unfortunately,
the episode did not discuss the issue
that I was interested in -- which was
the apocalyptic variant of Nichiren
followed by some of the officers of
Japan's Kwantung Army in Manchuria,
whose actions helped to trigger World
War II in Asia.
After lunch I walked back to the shop
and picked up the vehicle. It's
usually a very busy place, but it
wasn't today. There was one guy
waiting for his vehicle, watching the
rather forlorn-looking shop TV. It
probably hasn't been busy for some
time. No one's driving. I've only put
one tank of gas in the car since
mid-April and I suspect most other
people aren't using their cars nearly
as much either.
In fact, it seems that you can see
evidence of the great slowdown
everywhere you look.
There are definitely fewer people out
and about. But there's a lot more
natural noise. The birds are back.
They're everywhere. I've been noticing
the declining bird populations for
some time, so it's really nice to see
-- and hear -- them again!
The air is much clearer too and the
sky seems to be a slightly different
shade of blue.
I think I might really miss some
aspects of this when the world goes
back to it's normal industrious self.