I went into Santa Fé for the first time since March 23. It was hard to tell if the man who fixed my garage door was right in his view that people in the city were taking more precautions than individuals in Española, because I went to one store, got what I needed, and left.
Traffic was lighter driving in. I got there around 9 am, which means I would have been with people commuting to government jobs. No cars merged into traffic on Opera Hill like they normally do at that time of day.
There were comparatively fewer shoppers where I went, but, as I said, it was 9 am. Lots of people in Santa Fé don’t stir until later in the morning. So many stores there don’t even bother to open until 10.
The attitude towards masks was clear: to be worn inside, but not outside. The store I went to was more expensive than the other big boxes, so the other customers would have been like those I see in my local grocery. They would have had more respect for following rules, and, probably not coincidentally, would have had a little more money to spend. Almost everyone was wearing a mask, and many had on gloves.
I didn’t see anyone on the sidewalks wearing a mask.
There was a bit of a Rip Van Winkle quality to the trip. I hadn’t been down Cerrillos since I last had to have my tire pressures adjusted. I usually go down Zia from the office of my massage therapist.
I was saddened to see a For Lease sign on Empire Builders Supply. I’ll admit I only went in once to buy some vents for my gable peaks. The place wasn’t self-serve, but the wait wasn’t long. The man who helped me got me exactly what I needed in a way that made me feel he knew what he was doing, and customers mattered.
I was surprised that the store I used had reverted to plastic bags. Apparently, when the mayor proclaimed an emergency in the city, he suspended the rules on plastic bags. He also ordered the plexiglass shields I saw.
One thing hadn’t change. The air pollution. Even with little traffic, there was a haze over the Ortiz mountains south of the city.
I returned crossing west on Siler. As soon as I got onto Alameda, I had problems breathing. The road runs on high land parallel to the Santa Fé river with badlands rising on the other side.
I suspect the 80 degree temperatures trapped the pollution and didn’t let it clear in the night. Instead, it drifted into the valley bottom and was held there by the badlands.
I had to turn the air condition on high and gulp in air to recover. I saw the mask on the floor, but there’s no place to pullover on Alameda. Besides, I wasn’t really willing to put it back on after wearing it in public.
I was only as I approached the Cuyamunge overpass, that the air sneaking into my closed car was clean enough for me to turn down the air condition. The mountains to the north also were in a haze.
The most important difference between Española and Santa Fé: Rio Arriba County has reported 14 cases of coronavirus, while Santa Fé County has reported 95 cases,
Sources:
Danielle Prokop. "Santa Fe Mayor Issues Emergency Order for Grocery Stores" Santa Fe New Mexican. 6 April 2020.
Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico." Updated 28 April 2020.
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