Laura Bliss finds that while the map of her world “has shrunk in distance […] maybe it doesn’t have to shrink in detail”—and invites you to “make a map of your community as you experience it under coronavirus.”
Where is terra firma in a world growing smaller and more uncertain? For privileged me, working from home kid-free, one possible answer is trying to tune into immediate surroundings (something I ironically resolved to do more of at the start of 2020). I remind myself that when outdoor movement is restricted to a daily walk around the block, I can still notice the unhurried blossoming of a neighbor’s cherry tree. I can listen more closely to chatter of birds, who seem to be out in stronger force, and try to tell their apart species. I can watch as a local bottle shop closes its doors and reopens as a produce co-op. I can check to make sure the local pupuseria is still slinging masa (to-go), and stop and actually talk to my neighbors (six feet apart). I can drop off a box of N-95 masks at SF General, just a few blocks away. Under quarantine, the map of my world has shrunk in distance, but if I try hard enough, maybe it doesn’t have to shrink in detail.