Before and after: Photos of an empty Seattle in wake of the coronavirus pandemic

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As the effects of the novel coronavirus delay athletics, close up small businesses, and turn traffic silent across the United States, it's safe to say an eerie film has also settled across the Seattle area.

Our complaints of a "too busy" Pike Place Market, of our commutes to and from the office, of a flight delay at the airport or a security line too long, seem to have nearly vanished overnight as we gaze out our windows to give a mere wave to the garbage pick-up crew, which may or may not have been the extent of our social interaction for the week.

It's an odd time. It's a time when many of us, perhaps, resonate with our former complaints of wait times and bustling crowds as we migrated through the Emerald City in search of a restaurant without an hour-long wait, a route home without backed-up traffic, or an opportunity to make it up the Space Needle without battling waves of tourists.

Now, the crowds have died, the traffic has eased off, and simple goods from the grocery store have occasionally become day-long scavenger hunts.

And yet, these empty sights and sounds, ones we once loathed alongside honking car horns and busy sidewalks, now confuse us.

While we may not necessarily miss heavy traffic and crowded spaces, the Emerald City's emptiness may perhaps leave behind some simple sense of thanks for the people in our lives, whether they be our own families, the woman handing out bouquets amid a busy crowd at Pike Place Market, or the morning bus driver.

Click through the slideshow above for myriad before and after photos of popular and frequented places across the Seattle area, and join us in our excitement for the day we all hope for, when we'll return to busy streets once more, and perhaps, with a set of fresh eyes, too.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

• A comprehensive list of COVID-19 resources for Washington residents
• Phase 1 of Inslee's plan to reopen Washington starts Tuesday. Here's what it means
• Inslee: Washington stay-at-home order will be extended beyond May 4
• Inslee announces plan to ease restrictions on outdoor recreation across Washington
• Inslee's limited reopening of Washington's public lands: Will public test limits?
• Inslee: 'Low-risk' construction will resume in Washington with tight safety requirements
• Life after quarantine: 50 things Americans say they'll do when the pandemic ends
• Messages of hope: Street art, teddy bears show a resilient Seattle amid COVID-19
• University of Washington model shows effects of visiting friends during quarantine
• How does Washington's outbreak compare to other states?