HouseMate rented a car yesterday.* It was only $50 for two days (that's cheap, for here) and gas is around $1.69/gallon. I don't drive, so I don't notice gas prices much, but I'm sure I haven't seen it below or even near $2.00 in years.
HM took the light-rail to the airport to pick up the car. Our airport is a huge complex, and the train continues on from there to the Mall of America, another massive complex, now closed.
"There were three people on the train," HM reported, "and the airport was like a morgue. One woman was staffing all five rental car agencies."
In the evening, we took a half-hour drive to Stillwater, a touristy town along the St Croix River.
I haven't taken public transportation in a month, so I've barely been out of my neighborhood, and then only to bike the few miles to the area where both bink & Mz live.
I thought it'd be fun to get out of town, but it was shocking to see miles and miles of deserted strip malls along the highway.
(I say "out of town" but it's fast food and car dealerships between here and there.)
It felt apocalyptic, but it's not. It's the amazing sight of Americans not shopping, for the greater good.
Stillwater was eerily still. We parked in a lot with one other car. The fee board was covered with a sign, FREE PARKING.
Walking along the river path, we passed a man in insulated, camouflage bib overalls fishing with his young son.
Big river-cruising paddleboats huddled around a dock.
A teenage girl on a skateboard smiled at us and said hi.
Spring snowmelt swells the river, and it's risen up its banks.
In a month this will be dry again.
________________________
* HM rented the car so she could join a "stay-in-your-car" rally at the Sherburne County jail, in support of people ICE is holding there: immigrant detainees are requesting they be put on home-monitoring instead, due to danger of contracting covid in crowded quarters. From the Star-Tribune:
HM took the light-rail to the airport to pick up the car. Our airport is a huge complex, and the train continues on from there to the Mall of America, another massive complex, now closed.
"There were three people on the train," HM reported, "and the airport was like a morgue. One woman was staffing all five rental car agencies."
In the evening, we took a half-hour drive to Stillwater, a touristy town along the St Croix River.
I haven't taken public transportation in a month, so I've barely been out of my neighborhood, and then only to bike the few miles to the area where both bink & Mz live.
I thought it'd be fun to get out of town, but it was shocking to see miles and miles of deserted strip malls along the highway.
(I say "out of town" but it's fast food and car dealerships between here and there.)
It felt apocalyptic, but it's not. It's the amazing sight of Americans not shopping, for the greater good.
Stillwater was eerily still. We parked in a lot with one other car. The fee board was covered with a sign, FREE PARKING.
Walking along the river path, we passed a man in insulated, camouflage bib overalls fishing with his young son.
Big river-cruising paddleboats huddled around a dock.
A teenage girl on a skateboard smiled at us and said hi.
Spring snowmelt swells the river, and it's risen up its banks.
In a month this will be dry again.
________________________
* HM rented the car so she could join a "stay-in-your-car" rally at the Sherburne County jail, in support of people ICE is holding there: immigrant detainees are requesting they be put on home-monitoring instead, due to danger of contracting covid in crowded quarters. From the Star-Tribune:
“The jails are perfect incubators and transmitters because of overcrowding and substandard medical care and have the ingredients to easily fuel the pandemic,” the complaint states.
“We are at heightened risk of contracting and rapidly transmitting the virus. Numerous prisoners have already died in European prisons and continue to die at an alarming rate.”
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