All That From a Water Fountain in Everyday Ramblings

After an unexpectedly beautiful (mostly) dry day yesterday we are back to rain land today. This is the third attempt at a shot of the four “bubbler” fountain over on the start of the Eastside Esplanade that I walk through often. I finally managed to get a picture without trash in it.

There is an encampment of folks living rough over here even though it is a nice highly maintained public area. This bubbler is either a replica of one of the original 30 or so installed downtown or was moved. I find this picture particularly poignant because, umm, it is a water fountain that is fully functional in the rain. :)

These were installed back in the day to give people something clean and safe to drink other than alcohol. I find it interesting with this large population of folks (for whatever reason) living out in public that here we are again… Although this particular fountain is right across from the new fire station I often see folks brushing their teeth using it or rinsing out their hair.

During the main part of the day though a huge range of people drink from it all the day, runners and tourists and walkers and…

S has decided that now that she has been retired for a year she wants to get involved in some sort of outreach to these folks living rough, some sort of volunteer activity having to do with tiny housing initiative and getting them out of the tents that are stashed into every nook and cranny around this area you can imagine.

There is quite a bit of sponsored housing on the street that I walk on that gets me to the church. These are folks that by and large are trying to make it in the world as it is, but made poor choices along the way. They are most often warm and friendly.

Every once in awhile there is a nasty fight (usually with a woman screaming at a man) or an uncomfortable drug deal, an unruly pit bull or a guy standing in his underwear on a corner listening to headphones rockin’ out, which I saw a few weeks ago when it was freezing.

I had another big class last night and as I was leaving to walk down the above- mentioned street two separate women a block from each other stopped me and asked me about the class. (I was carrying my mat like I do…) They were both so very excited when I told them the class was on a donation basis as they were clearly people who live close to the bone.

Each appeared a little embarrassed when I told them I taught the class, which I thought was interesting. Unexpected for them I think to see the teacher in their midst.

There is something here worth paying attention to. S and I are going walking later this week. I am so thrilled to not be teaching at the hospital (I miss the actual teaching part a great deal because they were wonderful to work with, sometimes really challenging but wonderful) lately because of all the protocols I had to follow.

We do have a small shelter at the church for women and children. Maybe we could wrap something into that, a class to help with the incredible stress of being a woman of very limited means. I don’t think I want to teach it, and I do have a concern that if these women start coming to my regular class I might not be able to meet them where they are…. But it is all very interesting.

I know my class (as it is) is concerned about the growing number of people (and we will have more next week as we roll into the Winter session of programs) so it is a thing to ponder.

On Sunday instead on binge watching, I binge listened to almost the whole last half of Lauren Groff’s novel Fates and Furies. I was alarmed when the narrative shifted to the wife that this was going to be The Girl on the Train all over again, a very very unappealing narrator. I had stopped and read the James Wood review in The New Yorker that some people say cost her The National Book Award and that made me even more leery of the last section of the book.

But I stuck with it and was glad I did. Though I thought the whole thing a bit long and not quite there yet, I also think the book is wonderful, skillfully done.

I find this new sub-genre of books about angry women fascinating. I don’t really want to go there, just like I don’t want to get anywhere near a woman racing down the street in an alcohol or drug fueled rant at a man she is chasing.

As with racism, we very much do not live in a “post discrimination against women” society…

I’m just sayin… :) All that from a water fountain. Wow.

Last updated January 27, 2016