I love this! I'm 29 days late finding it, but I love the shifting perceptions and the view of hoarders. They make me mad. I'm frugal and I stock up on supplies as needed, but hoarding out of panic, knowing it means less food for others: that's just selfish. Greedy. Not compassionate or generous.
Great line:
The wind tugged at my hair, not a golfer in site, the soft fuzzy cotton of catkins budding white against the dark limber branches.
Just FYI, 'unfazed" is the word, but it's one of those mondegreens used now by millions, to the point that no one remembers the original spelling or reason for it. Kinda like "change tact" vs the correct "change tack," and don't get me started on jury-rigged vs jerry-rigged. Apparently both are acceptable now. Lay vs lie? Not gonna go there.
I love your thought processes and how poetically you express yourself! This is sublime:
The distinctive call of a pair of lapwings, swirling and diving over a field, last week the beginnings of a construction site, this week reclaimed by the wild, and for just for a moment, I forget about all of this.