PHOTOS: The spaces we filled, now filled with space

The Associated Press

5 years ago

A driver walks to catch the train toward Boston after parking in the unusually empty lot for commuters Wednesday, March 18, 2020, in South Attleboro, Mass. It's a scene playing out all over the world. The spaces we filled, now filled with space. The empty streets, the silent playgrounds and the lone commuter. Rush hour feels more like hush hour. From above, life on earth looks different. The patterns of our daily routines are now replaced by the patterns of empty parking lots. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

(AP Photo/David Goldman)

It’s a scene playing out all over the world. The empty streets, the silent playgrounds and the lone commuter. Rush hour feels more like hush hour.

From above, life on earth looks different. The patterns of our daily routines are now replaced by the patterns of empty parking lots, rows of school buses sitting idle and the long shadows of solitary figures in the early spring sunshine.

But life, while interrupted, carries on.

Shoppers social distance while waiting in line to get groceries. Mass is held without the masses. And Alice, an elephant at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island, eats her lunch without the usual audience.

A lone passenger boards the commuter train toward Boston at rush hour Monday, March 30, 2020, in Attleboro, Mass. It’s a scene playing out all over the world. The empty streets, the silent playgrounds and the lone commuter. Rush hour feels more like hush hour. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Toys lie scattered on an empty playground outside a school closed to stop the spread of coronavirus, Monday, March 30, 2020, in Attleboro, Mass. It’s a scene playing out all over the world. The empty streets, the lone commuter and the silent playgrounds. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

In this Wednesday, April 1, 2020 aerial photo, a commuter exits from Panepistimio Metro station at the deserted Korai pavement street in central Athens. Deserted squares, padlocked parks, empty avenues where cars were once jammed bumper-to-bumper in heavy traffic. The Greek capital, like so many cities across the world, has seen its streets empty as part of a lockdown designed to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.(AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

School buses sit parked in a lot as schools remain closed due to the coronavirus Monday, March 30, 2020, in Providence, R.I. From above, life on earth looks different. The patterns of our daily routines are now replaced by the patterns of school buses sitting idle. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

The Rev. Peter Gower holds his daily Mass before empty pews at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, Sunday, March 29, 2020, in Johnston, R.I. “I’ve been able to be there to support them through all these things in their life. I feel connected to the people and I do look out and I do see them,” said the Rev. Gower who continues to celebrate his daily Mass even though the church is closed to gatherings due the coronavirus. “I have all that in my heart and my mind so there’a unity that’s present whether they’re there or not.” (AP Photo/David Goldman)

The late afternoon sun casts a long shadow of a lone pedestrian walking up the steps of City Hall Plaza, Saturday, March 21, 2020, in Boston. From above, life on earth looks different. The patterns of our daily routines are now replaced by the patterns of the long shadows of solitary figures in the early spring sunshine. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

A pedestrian, at lower left, walks a dog past a construction site sitting idle after projects in the city were shut down due to the coronavirus Thursday, March 26, 2020, in Boston. Mayor Marty Walsh shut down construction sites across the city in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Empty tables and chairs sit outside a restaurant in the North End, the city’s Little Italy, normally bustling with tourists and diners, Saturday, March 21, 2020, in Boston. Restaurants all over the country were ordered to close their dine-in service and only do take-out and delivery in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Alice, an elephant at Roger Williams Park Zoo, eats hay out of a barrel as the usually busy picnic tables and walkways filled with visitors sit empty while the zoo is closed to the public due to the coronavirus, Monday, March 30, 2020, in Providence, R.I. “They’re used to crowds and having people around and now that that’s gone, they sense that’s something different,” said Ron Patalano, the zoo’s deputy director of operations. “You know they can sense it’s not the same.” (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Jaime Torres, 28, plays basketball on an empty court at Fargnoli Park, Sunday, March 22, 2020, in Providence, R.I. Torres came to the park which doesn’t get too busy so his two young sons could play and social distance as opposed to having them hang out with their friends as usual on Sundays. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

A man lies on a bench in the empty pedestrian mall of Quincy Market, a popular spot for tourists and shoppers now empty due to coronavirus, Saturday, March 21, 2020, in Boston. Businesses deemed non-essential were ordered closed and restaurants could only stay open for take-out and delivery. (AP Photo/David Goldman)