Abandoned strip mall

Waiting
London, ON
June 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Three of the four businesses in this tiny strip mall in the middle of a subdivision are shuttered by the pandemic, with no promise that they'll ever reopen.

Yet the place is still lit up like a Christmas tree, casting an oasis-like pool of light over the pockmarked parking lot.

It's a beacon to late-night dog-walkers like me, and a sign of hope that, perhaps one day activity will return here, and life will somehow go on.

Even in its empty state, there's a gravity to this place, because almost everyone who lives within walking distance is somehow connected to it, and has a story, or many stories, to tell.

The still-open convenience store was where our kids bought ice cream on hot summer days, or where younger, beleaguered versions of ourselves picked up overpriced supplies in the middle of raging winter storms because no one else was open. When the pizza place opened up, we carefully walked still-steaming boxes home, resisting the urge to stop and steal a slice.

Despite it all, we rarely think consciously or overtly about stores like these - or think much of them to begin with. Yet it's hard to imagine neighborhoods, or more specifically our neighborhood, without them.

So until this is all over, I'll continue to walk the dog past the pockmarked, floodlit parking lot late at night. And I'll continue to hope against hope that this place doesn't fade to black.

Because we need these places more than we once thought.

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