Big City vs. Small Town Part 4 of 5

With my new car ready for the journey, I set to the task of preparing myself for the same journey, sorting through what I would need for a month or more of being away from my Harlem apartment. My mom offered to accompany me and my little Havanese, George, on the 2-day journey. This alleviated stress as she helped me comb through various routes, including pet-friendly, COVID-responsible hotels that would offer us respite between our adventure's legs.

In mid-October, my mother, George, and I waved goodbye outside my parents’ looming apartment building on 5th Ave to my father, who was staying behind to work at Mount Sinai Hospital. Driving on empty city streets before exiting the city limits was strange. The journey itself was largely uneventful, and George offered some comedic relief as he tried to find a comfortable place to sleep that ended with the decision that my lap was his best, if not only, option.

Two days later, we all arrived in Little Rock to the welcoming arms of my sister, Eva, her wife, Joy, and their son, Oliver. Eva was severely pregnant - due in November, she grappled with what it meant to give birth in a hospital during Covid-19. Things were vastly different in Little Rock than they were in the city. People gathered more, access to outdoor areas like front porches was almost unlimited, and the spread of the virus itself was better suppressed simply in that space was ample.

I connected with old friends who listened intently to my pandemic experience living in New York City. I had experienced the BLM movement and its protests as people flooded the streets of the city despite warnings from police and the government regarding the potential threats associated with protesting at large and COVID specifically. They watched videos I had taken during that time and were often awe-struck at the similarities and differences of our experiences.