Translating Observation | Observation 12 | Noah Hodgson

This town is deserted. The shorefront fairgrounds, once a hub of activity, is empty – returned to its status as an empty field of grass. On the community centre an Australian flag flies at half mast, for what reason I’m not sure, but it seems fitting all the same. A single car pulls into the carpark, no one gets out. They just sit there, presumably here doing the same thing I’m doing – filling time, looking out on the ocean. A single mask-laden runner jogs by, with only the seagulls to keep him company. Up the hill to my left sits the main drag of the town – as deserted as everywhere else. The shops which rely so heavily on travelling visitors lay dormant. COVID can’t end soon enough.