I'm parked about a mile west of downtown Ballard right at the mouth of the ship canal. I wake up smelling the ocean and hearing seabirds call. My shelter is secure, well equipped and stocked with food and the things I need. I turn on music and have my breakfast. After washing my face, hands, and brushing my teeth, I walk into town. Today I arrived an hour and a half before the library opens, which is where I use free WiFi to do my online work. I could hang out in a nice cafe with a coffee. Some days I do that. But on most, like today, I choose to wait in Ballard Commons park which is kitty corner to the library. I do so because I am drawn to the people that congregate there. Most are living on the street or in their vehicles. To sit quietly and listen to their conversations is very interesting. What I find most intriguing about it is that most of their conversations are not that different from the ones in the coffee shops. Same concerns, laughs and outrages. Then you have the people that are talking seemingly to themselves who's conversations are by far the most interesting. I listened to a man about my age today having a conversation with aliens aboard their flying saucer. He was most concerned with whether they used money of some sort on their planet. He was raving about how that's all that anybody cares about on earth.
The sixties Dodge in the picture belongs to a couple that lives out of it. I haven't met them yet, or anyone in the park for that matter. I'm taking my time letting them all see me. There are a few older folks that I can see will talk to me some day.
Living outdoors is relatively easy here this time of year. It's going to be challenging to see winter descend on these folks.
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