Barren Saturday

Afternoon walk on the Fastrak Path

The weather was very pleasant this afternoon for this time of year. The temperature was in the 40s but the wind was calm; mostly overcast but still bright. I thought it would be healthy to get out for some fresh air, exercise, and daylight. 

Along the path there is a wetlands. My camera was not able to capture the spectacular lighting on the reeds (see pictures above and below). While I walked I was able to call my mom and a few minutes after that call, my sister Susan called me. So I was not alone during my walk. I came across a handful of other people also enjoying the trail.

Everything looked monochrome, stark, and barren...like the shelves in the grocery stores. 

On the way home, I popped over to our local grocery store to get a few things and to see if they had restocked from earlier. No produce or any sign of bottled water (of any container size), paper products (T-paper, kleenex, paper towel), bleach, soap, pasta & sauce. Even the frozen food section was barren.

This aisle should have held all the bottled water.

This aisle should have held the paper towels and other paper products.

The frozen food coolers were nearly empty.

Continuing towards home, I stopped at our local Dollar store to see if they had any of these scarce items but their shelves were also barren.

Just a few rolls of paper towel but no toilet paper.

The last time I encountered stores this barren was when I lived at the shore and a hurricane was headed our way. The empty shelves today are a bit disconcerting because there is not hurricane, or earthquake, or snowstorm.

I'm hoping that the panic will calm down in a few days when the shelves are restocked.

Written Sunday 22 March 2020.