Had to go to the store today to pick up extra dog food & a few other nonessentials. To my surprise Walmart was closed & has stacked 6-foot high cardboard bails in front of all their entrances. Some of the other stores in the surrounding shopping center are also closed, though several are still open. With Walmart closed, I continued down the road to the Publix, knowing they were open till 18:00 hrs as I had checked earlier. They were a little busy but by no means packed. I grabbed the stuff I needed & went immediately through the express lane.
The only thing odd in all this was the fact that the roads & parking lots are all empty & many smaller stores have boarded up their windows. What makes this eerie is that the weather here is beautiful. The sun has been out all day. It’s been a little on the hot & humid side but not unbearable. There has been a few small gusts but they feel good helping with the slight heat. Driving around here feels like an abandoned ghost town. At home normally we can hear faint sounds of children playing, cars driving off in the distance, & the occasional whisper of a far away train. Today there is a unsettling silence resting all around. Only the sounds of wind through trees or the occasional squirrel rustling slice through the heavy quiet. I’m sure this will change as the storm get closer & we get some wind & rain. For now, it’s just eerily peaceful.
