What does a pandemic sound like?

[Mike B 625]

By Robin Givhan (Washington Post)

In India, the incessant beep-beep of cars has disappeared. In New York, Harlem’s heart has stopped beating. In the suburbs of Detroit, the chatter of neighbors is muffled. In Toronto, the trains no longer whistle, and in Marseille, every day sounds like a holiday. All around the world, the silence rolls in and out like fog. It hangs in the air — there but not there. Impenetrable and fragile, weightless and smothering.

It’s periodically disrupted — by the shriek of an ambulance siren, the rattle of a construction truck or the evening applause for first responders. For those lucky enough to work from their home, FaceTime and Zoom keep the afternoon buzzing with a new familiarity. But eventually, the silence comes.

We are deep in the horror and kicking our way to the surface. What does a pandemic sound like? Emptiness....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/silence-solitude-lockdown-quarantine-social-distancing/2020/04/27/ad2ad688-8322-11ea-a3eb-e9fc93160703_story.html