Postcard Not From Tuscaloosa But Across The River, Downtown Northport

I wasn't sure where I was going to do my postcard for today, although I sure did drive around a lot.

There was traffic, but not as much as usual.

There was construction, way more than should be usual.

And there's simply no escaping the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, even if things have been reopening around town.

So I went with something else, thinking that some of that other stuff can wait until next week.

I tried to think of the one place around here that might reflect a bit calm, and how even though a lot has changed some things are still pretty much the same.

To be honest, the first place I thought of was The Quad on campus, only I wasn't alone in my car as I had a youngin riding along asleep.

Without stopping for 30 seconds along University Blvd. — which was tempting until I saw the usual University Police vehicle parked in the driveway of the President's Mansion — there's basically no way to drive along the adjacent roads without a university pass or going against a one-way road.

Since she's a little young to be an accessory to anything illicit, plus I didn't want sirens waking her up, off we went to downtown Northport.

It looked just like you would expect on a sunny Monday afternoon in May. Some stores were open, some weren't. A lot of the downtown area shuts down after the morning hours. Some cars were going though, but not too many. All in all, Things were pretty quiet.

Mostly, there was Rusty.

If you don't know, Rusty the Big Red Dog is an impressively large scrap metal canine sculpted in 1983 by Larry Godwin. He stands, pointing, atop a building on Main Street, a fixture of the Kentuck Art Center campus.

He's still here, standing watch over Main Street.

Somehow that was a little comforting before turning back toward the traffic, the the construction and the craziness of the world.