Greetings CSLEA!

In an attempt to gauge my respiratory fitness (post open heart surgery 2016); promote solitary exercise as per Governor Gavin Newsom’s recommendations; and to maintain my mental/emotional health…I took a personal day Friday (04/03/2020), donned a mask/observed 6ft social distancing and walked the entire perimeter of San Francisco in a day…28.3 miles in 11.5 h

ours (nearly 2.5mph).  I did not do this to minimize or dismiss this grave situation and the impact of COVID-19, but to better appreciate my hometown of San Francisco and reinforce my gratitude for the gifts I am graced with.

Saddens me to see my vibrant hometown like this…a stark reminder of what is really happening during this pandemic…few people on the streets…mostly masked and looking really scared…so many abandoned masks and single rubber gloves left behind on the ground…even the unhoused people are more sullen and not as visible…those unhoused I did see were generally far apart from each other along the Embarcadero/other main thoroughfares…

The true reality check was walking through a totally empty Fisherman’s Wharf and past Giants Ballpark and Warriors Arena…it was like 4am but with all the lights on…a movie set feel…struck by the devastation to our local small businesses…either closed/boarded up or with small handwritten signs begging for pick-up and/or delivery orders…

Let me be clear…I am HOPE-FILLED for our community and for our society at-large! I have enjoyed better/stronger communication with my family, friends and friendlies over these past few weeks by using Zoom, phone calls/text, and social media…some of these folks I had not spoken with or seen in many years…

We will get through this together.  We need each other now more than ever!

Respectfully Yours,

Bob Twomey