First Curfew Night

On the first curfew night ever in Sacramento’s history, I gambled that no one would care if I gave Jasper his usual walk on a quiet residential street after midnight, and that proved to be the case.

The silence was astonishing to behold. No creepy folks driving slowly about, like last night. No one at all. A pure night.

There is always some traffic in the city, even on Christmas, even when it rains on Christmas, but apart from 2 cars in the distance, a third car at the end of the walk, and a fourth car an hour later as I watered plants, there was none.

The brittle silence was broken only by some highway roar in the distance. For some traffic or meteorological reason, I couldn’t hear the two highways closest to me, Highways 50 and 99, but only Interstate 5, the furthest away. Strange.

Passing by the field at Sierra 2 Community Center, I could hear a tinny radio in the distance and could barely make out a Black Lab running around in the dark. Apparently Jasper and I spooked the person; I soon heard the clang of the distant gate as they quickly departed.

I was astonished to see the windows boarded up at the Curtis Park Market. The windows were intact here last night, and I doubt anyone broke them today. This appeared to be a purely preventative measure. So strange!