This cover is a scene I chose to include in the slide show for the article The Corona Virus: Trail Of Devastation.
It’s tough to say how you might best illustrate the year of 2020 and the China Virus. Mostly, I’m disgusted by the thing. The death, sickness and economic damage, the fact that it is conspiracy, the reality that our nation and the world have been knocked down to accept the reality of our own frailty, and the fact that we as human beings really don’t have control over God and nature – or evil people who perpetrate such an act.
I first picked the scene on Clinton Avenue one day last March when out looking for photos to illustrate the impact of the China Virus when I noticed there was so little traffic in downtown. Near the crosswalk the emptiness immediately caught my attention as a contrast to the Beatles Album Abbey Road. While two of the original band members live on, The Beatles are a bygone era. So many things are now bygone and were left empty in 2020. Bars, clubs, sports stadiums, band venues, schools and shopping malls all fell empty of spectators, fans and shoppers. And, of course, so many have died and left empty space around the dinner table and in the easy chair.
The original caption for the slide show photo – “The roads in downtown Huntsville are all but empty on a usually busy day. Clinton Ave. seems to be begging for people to populate this ghostly scene.” – is believed to be the inspiration for Rolling Stone Mick Jagger’s Corona Virus song, Ghost Town, released a few weeks later.
©2020 – Jim Casey
