Evacuation Route

My wife and I treated ourselves to a ride in the car down the Pemaquid Peninsula yesterday. On the way we stopped for a dip at the Biscay Pond beach. It wasn’t crowded and social distancing was easy. We carried on to Round Pond to see how a friend was progressing on a renovation project and to drop in on another friend whom we hadn’t seen all summer - with masks and social distancing out doors. We checked on our favorite lobster co-op shack; it was operating. We’ll be back. Next we went to New Harbor, a favorite of ours. It’s where the Hardy Boat leaves for Monhegan Island. 


Heading for home, we passed a sign with an arrow, Evacuation Route. And we wondered why anyone would need to evacuate the peninsula. It’s on rugged high ground not to be flooded by a hurricane surge. What else could cause us to evacuate? We couldn’t fathom what it could be - or how it would be better anywhere else.


But maybe the Evacuation Route signs are pointing the wrong way. Could it be a route for evacuation from the heavy scourge of COVID-19 elsewhere? A more likely scenario. Businesses are operating; the coronavirus is under control; the sea breezes are cooling. Here, life is good. Turn those signs around!

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