A City Put to Sleep

On March 23, 2020, the afternoon before Ohio’s “Stay at Home” order was about to take effect at midnight, the streets of Cleveland were already clearing out. A low bank of clouds or fog was hanging over the city like a blanket being pulled up for a long sleep.

The city itself was a surreal sight, still some vehicles, still some people scurrying around doing their jobs, but far from a normal Monday afternoon in downtown Cleveland.

Occasionally I would run come across someone on the streets, not necessarily working, but they were few and far between.

But it was the streets themselves that were most surreal.

Two weeks later on April 5th, I decided to check out Cleveland’s West Side, just across the Cuyahoga River and found that very usually busy area pretty much abandoned as well. Just across the Veterans Memorial Bridge, where Detroit Ave. meets W. 25th Street, I could easily stand in the middle of the street, sometimes for minutes on end, taking photos.  Again, the blanket of fog was being pulled across the city.

When will it all wake up and come back to life? Only time will tell. When it does, it will be like waking up from a long, very strange dream. One that we would never have imagined, but in fact did come true.

Until then, stay safe, stay socially distanced and wash your hands!