A Nearby Park

A surprise discovery of a nearby park today–no need to drive to the wooded area near Menlo Park Mall, or to the walking trails near Rutgers University. The real distance between this park and where I live is only 1500 feet, but there’s no direct road possible. I have to walk the opposite direction, pass a gas station, a Dunkin Donuts store, turn a corner about three blocks away, and go straight for four more blocks down to the edge of the Raritan River, where the park is. The tennis courts are empty, without the usual bustling; the children’s playground is cordoned off with yellow tapes; the restrooms are locked. Any area possible for a shrinking social distance is closed and out of reach. I just turned away from it as if I wanted to convince myself that it didn’t exist, the same kind of attitude I use towards news nowadays. More virus cases, more death count, a whole senior center evacuated, a long line of waiting patients outside of a hospital in Queens, New York.