It’s now my third week of working at home, so needless to say, there’s not a lot of commuting going on. Once a week, early Sunday morning I drive into the city to spend some time in my office, checking mail, tidying up, doing a few housekeeping chores, and remembering that I do actually have a job. And thankfully, still a paycheck. May it continue.
My Sunday commutes have been startling and dramatic. Pre-Corona, the 80 Freeway between Vallejo and San Francisco is a commuting hell. Heavy traffic usually at top speeds of 40 on a good day. The 35 mile trip typically takes 1 1/2 to 2 hours each way. Since I drive carpool, I (and my passengers) get a break, usually coasting along at about 50 and being able to breeze past the toll lanes.
The last three Sundays have been amazingly different Cars are few and far between and there are even stretches of the freeway where I see no cars in front of me or behind me. I feel like I’m in one of those futuristic post-apocalyptic movies. Except this is now.
This is the 80 freeway where it divides and enters the toll plaza area going into San Francisco. Cash lanes are closed, since there are no toll-takers Cash only drivers without Fast Track drive on through and are sent a bill in the mail.
Approaching Toll Plaza before Bay Bridge into San Francisco.
Here are the toll lanes pre-Corona.
The city’s streets and sidewalks are quiet and empty, many buildings boarded up. I drove on Post Street past Union Square where Tiffany’s, Saks, and Williams Sonoma are all hidden behind boarded windows.
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Returning home was an easy 40 minute drive. The clear skies, the hillsides abloom with golden California poppies were a welcome sight after the grim city streets.
April begins this week with another month of covid-19, closed cities and empty freeways. But with hope, too, for solutions and the return to health and our lives. Good people are working all over the globe to make it happen, and we will get there.
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Getting There 
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