Well it’s a little hard to believe that just last Friday here in Waltham Massachusetts (a town right next to Watertown) we were all prisoners in our homes, huddled in anxious bewilderment, glued to the TV coverage of a local manhunt of unprecedented scale.
I thought for those who were not in the middle of it I would share how it felt, as best I can articulate it anyway.
Most of the “lockdown/ shelter in place” aspect was not all that noticeable. If you think about it, you probably spend most of your sundays in lockdown mode anyway, i.e., not leaving your house very much. It was just when I said “hmmm, it’s warm outside, maybe I should go for walk” when I noticed that, oops, no , I do not have the freedom to do that. It wasn’t so much a concern about being arrested, I figured the police had better things to worry about. It was the very real possibility that this crazy kid might be hiding in the woods, and if I went for an illegal walk I would be all alone out there, and might run into him. No thanks.
My sister lives in Watertown, about a mile away from all the action, so that was a cause of some concern. I also have some “dance community” friends who live two blocks from “the boat,” and their facebook posts were quite exciting, as they endlessly commented on hearing the gunshots and the helicopters endlessly hovering overhead.
I saw one or two military helicopters come overhead during the afternoon but other than that I could not hear any shots.
All in all, it was just a surreal day of nonstop energy-draining suspense, watching TV and my facebook newsfeed, wondering how the story would end. Now we just have to wait for the movie.
© Justin Locke
