Echo Park during the Coronavirus pandemic, May 10, 2020

I don't mind admitting how nervous I was shooting the series of pictures this image represents at Echo Park Lake this afternoon. Yes, most people were staying fairly apart from others, but even so...I was taking extra care not to maneuver myself into the center of groups, and going from place to place on the nearly deserted sidewalks. I knew that scenes like this were pretty much inevitable, but even so, my heart sank at the sight of so many out. My neighborhood has been one of the bright spots in the city as far as virus contagion is concerned, with one of the lowest rates in L.A. I wonder (with no small amount of dread) now if that's going to change.

When I got home, I immediately got in the shower, even though I made a point of not touching anything other than my own gear. My heart sank again when I realized that I was going to have to not just get used to all of this, but work it into my new routine. A new routine for a new era.