Economic Downturns

Friday was a rough day for me, most likely due to an overly busy week and not enough sleep for several nights for both me and my daughter. So I might have been reading things into what I saw up at the corner of 145th and 5th as we waited for the light to change. But regardless of my emotional state, it was a terrible sight.

I can't figure out if there was some sort of "clean up" initiative in action, or if some residents in the area were taking charge of their block, but there were 8 or 10 people in rain gear cutting and hauling away brush from the area. The city must have been somewhat involved as there was an SDOT garbage truck and driver loading up what the neighbor-types were hauling. Some kind of heavy equipment had probably been used as the area had been very overgrown and somewhat wooded, and now it looked like it had been cleared.

None of this would have struck me as particularly interesting or noteworthy except for the fact that one of the people on the scene was not dressed for the project, was not brandishing tools and bustling around. Instead, he was sobbing. Mopping brow with a dirty paper napkin, shuffling from foot to foot, waving his arms around, and generally looking very confused and upset. This man was clearly mentally ill and looked like he lived outside. He had 3 stuffed plastic garbage bags on the ground next to him, probably filled with his things, and he watched the other people moving around.

I think I may have seen him at this spot before, panhandling from cars exiting the freeway. I know I've seen his stuff -- 2-liter plastic bottles and some random bags of food. He used to have old popcorn spread around on the ground and the birds would gather to eat it.

So my guess is that back in the overgrown bramble and bushes, this man had fashioned himself some sort of shelter and was calling this corner home. What I don't understand is, if this was a city or neighborhood effort to prevent a homeless man from living there, why wasn't something put in place to provide him with some help? If an effort requiring this much coordination and planning was going on, had anyone considered finding a shelter or a soup kitchen to transport the evicted man to? Even arresting him and giving him a night in jail, a shower and a meal seems more humane than allowing him to stand and watch as what little stability and security he had was being torn apart.

I think what bothers me most about what I saw was that even in the unlikely event that they only discovered this man's presence there after the fact, they simply appeared to be working and ignoring his existence. Granted, I only saw a snapshot of the process. They may have had the best intentions and were unable to get him to leave or accept their help. But by the time I was there to witness it, it was one of the ugliest things I have seen in a long time. It didn't help that the "volunteers" or whomever they were were wearing heavy weather gear (overalls) and carrying pitchforks.

One of my Heroes

I had the privilege of seeing Jimmy Carter speak in Seattle 6 or 7 years ago and I was so very impressed with what he had to say about past and contemporary topics. His answers were intelligent, compassionate, and realistic. I remember feeling like I wanted to sit down with this man and ask him what I should think about many more topics, because he just made sense to me. I don't usually want someone else to tell me what to think; quite the opposite, I can be resistant to having my opinions influenced. But when you hear the words of someone with Carter's experience, with his combination of heart and brains, you want to hear more.

I was glad today, to hear some more. The man continues to be sharp, funny, kind and informed. I am listening. I hope others will, too.

Inauguration Photos - Not to be Missed

Click on the picture or on this link to see some incredible photographs of the big day around the globe.
The Inauguration of President Barack Obama - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Practicing my Practice

Today at yoga I used a new mantra in an attempt to clear my mind's clutter and get the most out of my time on the mat. I really felt a need to remind myself to be in the moment, to use my time to find release for my muscles and even more for my busy mind. Last night I woke several times in the night and realized I was planning and dreaming about work, t0-do lists, and ideas for some upcoming events in my future. Not a good night's sleep, and not something that I wanted to allow into my yoga practice.

When I reflect on being in the moment, being truly present, I realize that I have a lot of room to grow in this area. Part of it is simply the reality of balancing parenthood, work, domestic life, and pursuits outside of these fundamentals. It isn't realistic to only live in the moment, because life takes planning. And there are benefits to time spent reflecting on the past as well.

But I think it is a worthwhile goal to increase my overall awareness of how much time I spend multi-tasking, and to make conscious choices about when I am choosing that and when I am really depriving myself of the opportunity for a wonderful experience in the moment. I certainly want to be sure that I am not taking advantage of my daughter's ability to entertain herself to the point of not taking time to simply be with her, enjoy her, and give her part of my heart and soul every day.

Because she is very much in the present, as children are naturally. It is our natural state to live in the moment, and we have to learn to think about past and future. Children learn time concepts and how to answer "when" much later than they learn about action, and person, and even reasons. I spend a lot of time with my students and my child helping them gain knowledge from past experience and also make choices based on future outcomes. It is worthwhile and necessary, but I hope I can also step back and learn from what they have to offer: right now.

Where were you?

It was quite a day on Tuesday. The degree of excitement and participation here in Seattle was high. My plans were to witness the swearing-in surrounded by my students, kids for whom this day will not be history but rather the way things are. Kids for whom the door has been opened. American kids who speak 54 different languages and whose skin color has more than 54 different shades.
My plans were foiled by circumstances of my job which I cannot write about, but which are highly frustrating. Let me just say that the very fact that the people responsible for me missing the chance to celebrate with my students and colleagues did not witness the inauguration, which blows my mind. History was made, and they were in a room, fuming about something else.

I refused to miss it, and took a 20 minute break to see it happen live. It was an oasis in a rough morning. I was entirely transported into a world where the big picture is in view and people come together to make a change for the better.

The rest of the day was also challenging. It was a relief when I finally was on my way home with Adelaide in the car, and we were able to talk about our new President. Adelaide was very excited to watch Obama get sworn in, and wanted to do it right away when we got home. We waited until bedtime, and then turned to YouTube to witness it again.

This time, I watched Obama, but mostly I watched Adelaide. I'm sure she didn't understand everything in his speech, and we didn't watch it in its entirety, but her gaze was fixed and her attention was total. I was glad, because I hope that this election will be something she is able to remember later. She certainly will remember Obama, as he will be her President for a good portion of her childhood.

Merry-Go-Round

Today we had the good fortune to have sun all day and a warm afternoon outdoors to enjoy. Adelaide rode her bike with the masses at Greenlake while I walked alongside trying to prevent collisions. At the playground, also jammed packed, I noticed that despite the fact that there were children on every inch of the equipment and parents forming an almost unbroken ring on the perimeter, the mood was light and people were navigating through without much fuss. A little reprieve from the cold, wet, and dark really does a lot for the spirit here in the Northwest.

The most noticeable success story in the sharing and working together today happened at the merry-go-round. There were kids of all ages on there, mostly 4 and older, but a few smaller ones too, and they must have been at capacity if not pushing the limit a bit. The speed at which it was whirling around made it challenging for me to watch (I don't have to ride to get dizzy) but I couldn't take my eyes off of these kids. They negotiated an amazing number of factors with very little discussion, all while whirling around and sometimes leaning their heads back with pure joy. When things slowed, a few kids would hop off and run until it was fast again. When a smaller kid said "stop!" they had it slowed to a crawl almost instantly. When a new kid appeared on the scene wanting to climb on, they slowed it down enough for that child to run an hop on. No arguments, no negotiations, no tears or yelling or collisions. I don't know how they did it, but I do know I wanted to scoop those kids up and give them a hug for being so amazing.

I couldn't help but wonder what the freeway might look like if these kids were driving instead of their parents. I suppose there might be some speeding going on, but I bet you anything there wouldn't be any tailgating. Merging, changing lanes and the on- and off-ramps would be a breeze, and thank-you waves would be the norm.

Biggest Loser Week 2 Recap

For those of you who missed it, here's a look at this week's Biggest Loser episode: