Life in suburban, shoreline Connecticut has always been quiet. Unlike the busy life of a city like Philadelphia, Old Lyme, CT has only 10,000 residents, and is generally a quiet escape from bustling New Haven or New London.
Now with the COVD-19 outbreak, life in this small town seems quieter than ever.
Foot traffic is at an all time low, and as it is the rest of the world, non-essential businesses are closed. All that’s left to do now is find new ways to spend our time.
My younger brother Jake is a junior in high school, and has been keeping me company in finding new ways to keep our days occupied.
“I’ve been learning how to drive,” says Jake. “I’ve also been rereading a series of books I really like. They’re definitely meant for middle schoolers, but I still like it.”
To get out of our house more often, I have been attempting to teach Jake, a newly permit-awarded teen, to drive my car.
On nicer evenings, my family and I will spend our time on Roger’s Lake, which happens to be right in our front yard. It’s a beautiful scene, and a nice reminder that there’s a lot of beautiful places in a small, quiet town.
Overall however, life as of right now in Old Lyme can still be summed up as uneventful.
My mom sums up most of my family’s opinions on social distancing.
“I mean it’s kind of nice because we don’t have to rush around going back and forth to work everyday,” says my mom, Yale employee Maneesha Joshi. “But it is hard to have to inside all the time, and not be able to go anywhere.”
In light of the difficult times, Old Lyme has been trying to maintain and promote public safety via the use of roadside signs. These signs remind us of the necessary precautions we need to be taking, which the community responds well to.
You may have noticed them in your own town, the small hearts people have placed on their lawns or door steps in support of frontline workers. They have sprouted up everywhere in Old Lyme, all in silent support of doctors, nurses, grocery store workers, and more.
It’s this type of strength in a community that keeps people united, motivated, and makes quarantine a little brighter.
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