Tough times like these make any blessings better. Things are abnormally blissful on 103rd Avenue, also known as “parking lot hill,” leading to the north end ferry. The air is clear; it’s quiet. Our yards aren’t littered with trash.

Vashon’s natural serenity isn’t always available to those of us living on ferry-adjacent roads that deliver everyone on and off the island. On our 30 miles per hour road, most cars go 40 miles per hour, with at least one car speeding over 70 miles per hour every day. With little to no shoulder to safely walk with this kind of traffic, even King County engineers say our road is non-compliant with safety standards.

Now it’s actually safe to walk. We don’t have beer cans and cigarettes tossed in our yards every day. We don’t have to yell over the noise or inhale the exhaust of 1,600 cars that drive on our road every day. Less air pollution has been well documented across the planet, with decreased commuter traffic since this terrible virus hit us.

I hope everyone has safer, quieter streets and cleaner air for a long time to come. And I thank you, Vashon, for driving less. As my dad used to say, “Life could be like this.”

— Mike Leavitt