A Living Magazine - Day 43 - City of Peace

Drip, drip, drip... Drops on the tarp. That was what I heard. I checked my watch: 4:25 am. I'd gone to sleep at about 12:30 am. That was under four hours of rest. Combined with the night before, I'd had less than five hours of sleep in the last two days. It wasn't really raining. It was a drizzle, and I was under the temporary shelter of the leaf canopy. The tarp was a bit damp, but the sleeping bag was not yet effected.

I never knew whether it was going to really pour, or just stop. Chances were it would stop. All the while, I wasn't taking any chances. Frustrated, and feeling a little bit sick to my stomach from lack of sleep, I stuffed the sleeping bag into its pocket. Two days before, I began putting it in a plastic trash bag, so that the sweat from my back would not soak into it during the day. This worked well. Naturally as soon as the sleeping bag was stowed, the rain stopped.

From my vantage point, road was relatively quiet, and I walked down the small grassy hill to it, easily continuing on downtown...

Sunrise coming.

Squash in a business's front yard.

Pennycress.

Salem Sunrise.

This is the most common spider around (barn spider?).

I saw a cemetery along the way and couldn't resist going in. This is the first stone I saw...

The Darcys. Looks like all of them?

I'm not sure I'd want a late-life picture on my stone--forever...

These are kind of cool. When I was walking toward them it

looked like the couple in the ad was sitting behind that bush. 

Neat tree... Species?

I almost walked in for my dose.

A vape store and sitting room.

I bought a coffee at the AM/PM and then made my way down Mission Street to the Bush House and Park I visited the day before. Being able to pick up an Xfinity signal at one of the picnic tables, I got online and transferred some files. That's when the squirrels arrived. They seemed to come down from the trees all at the same time...

It didn't take long for one bold little guy with a ripped ear to walk right up, stand and stare at me. I had a small amount of pumpkin seeds left. So, he and I ate breakfast together...

I also watched two crows, walking around picking up seeds and feeding each other...

A tiny crab spider was intent on hanging out on my coffee cup. I flicked at him to get him off to cap, but he would just rear up like he was getting ready to fight. I backed down and allowed him to stay...

I had this day and the next, and then I'd be out of money. I was really hungry, but I knew I'd have to make my $20.00 last. I started to feel a bit weak. I decided to go to McDonald's. They had a sausage and cheese biscuit for a dollar. The next few days were going to be tough. I'd been doing a good job at budgeting. Yet, I just couldn't hold on to enough money. It gets tiring.

I got to McDonald's, ordered my breakfast sandwich and ate it as slowly as possible. I remembered that I had poppy pods in my toiletries bag, and dug them out. They should have been just about dry enough to get the seeds out...  

Only the first two pods (top left and middle) had mature seeds. The others were too under-developed and their seeds were immature. I bagged the good ones...

I spent an hour so there, and then headed back by the Capitol Building so I could connect to Liberty Avenue. On this day they had fountains going...

You can own a vacuum cleaner too. Only $840 dollars!

Right before reaching the Salem Public Library, I saw a little path down to a small river area, so I thought I'd explore it and I'm glad I did...

After passing under a bridge, I came out near a park centered around Reflection Pond. And I thought this photo would be appropriate...

Upon casing the perimeter, I ran across a group of muskrats. they are really like a mixture of small beaver and rat. cute little buggers though...

Mother and pup eating at the edge of Reflection Pond, then swimming away...

On the other side was a pair who seemed to always stick together...

I had to circle back around and go back out the way I came in if I was going to end up back near the library...

The library had been open for about 15 minutes by the time I entered its courtyard. It was named the "Peace Plaza," with lots of displays I hadn't seen the day before. The theme of these flags was repeated in several forms (that I would photograph the next day)...

Across from the library, I glimpsed an art piece, that - at first - I though was a pair of bat wings, but ended up being an abstract sculpture...

The library courtyard.

Now, I was preparing myself to visit the little bird I found the day before. I walked over to the side of the building where the hidden alcove was. I saw my pile of branches that had served as a shelter for the bird. She was gone. I looked carefully all around and saw no evidence of a struggle (from being attacked by a cat, for example). It was as if she woke up this morning, was in better shape and flew away. THAT was what I chose to believe anyway... 

The bird had been under the green branches near the middle.

Since I'd already published the post for the day - having worked on it at the sleep spot and published at Bush's Park this morning - I could do some other work I'd been meaning to get to. I also checked the status of a package I was going to receive by General Delivery. It had not been sent yet, but this was to be expected, since it was Sunday. That meant I would be there in Salem for another five to six days waiting for it.

It would be another week without money, waiting (and praying) for a package to arrive. Thoughts of my ten days in Redding briefly passed through my mind. But this was a much nicer place. Even if I couldn't eat, at least I'd be more comfortable here. Redding was described (rightly) by one of my friends as "...the armpit of California." But, Salem was rich with nature, parks, rivers and had a much smaller homeless and transient population. This meant that I would not constantly be begged, as I was in Redding.

My sleep spot, east, in the Salem Heights area, looked like it was probably going to work out, despite being so far away (about 5 miles). I worked until the library closed at 6:00 pm, then very slowly walked back up Commercial Street toward my nest. It wasn't quite dark when I got to that area, so I walked past it to a bus stop about half a mile further up the street.

When the sky was sufficiently dark, I walked back down and climbed up the grassy hill. This spot was spider central. The night before, I believe I'd walked through three or four webs. I was still feeling the silk on my arms and hands even when I tried to go to sleep that last night. This time I only walked through one. It used to freak me out knowing that at the center of those webs was a spider of potentially questionable toxicity. But, after you've done something a thousand times without negative results, you just don't care anymore.

The sky was very overcast. Something told me it wouldn't be raining. I turned on the laptop to see if I still had a signal. I did but it was somewhat intermittent. I was tired anyway, and pretty hungry again. But I had to stretch what I knew would go fast enough as it was.

I laid out the stuff and climbed into the sleeping bag. As soon as my head touched the pillow I passed into a deep sleep.