Early morning jogs in a deserted Washington, D.C.

When I was in Washington, DC this past summer, I would try to beat the summer heat taking an early morning jog.

In normal times in DC, I would have been one of many, but in COVID-era DC, it often felt like a ghost town. This wasn’t a quiet suburb or out-of-the-way areas, my daily jogs took me by the Supreme Court, the Capitol and the Mall.

In normal times, I would have been one of many joggers out early to squeeze in some exercise before their long work day, but not on this visit.

In fact, if it weren’t for the Capitol police and security, I wouldn’t have seen many people at all.

In case you think things must have only been quiet early morning, but changed drastically throughout the day, the shot above was taken mid-day during the work week.

Not your normal DC.

While the jogs started my days off well, they also made me sad seeing how Washington has become. I hope the city will move to a more rational way of socially distancing and being safe during COVID, while still allowing the city to live.

That being said, the jogs did manage to start my days of right.

But I do hope that next time I’m in America’s capital, I’ll share my jogging route with more fellow joggers than squirrels.

‘Til next time on the jogging trails.