A Living Magazine - Day 64 - Back to Life and Visiting New Vansterdam

[This will be another short and simple post. A wonderful opportunity may have arisen for when I get to Seattle, and I need to begin arranging things for that.]

I was back in Portland, standing on the beach where I first tried to sleep. Someone was trying to talk to me closer toward the grassy edge of the river. I can't remember what we were discussing, but I knew it was a woman. As we talked the tide came in around my feet, eventually covering my boots completely. But, I wasn't getting wet. I thought this was quite odd. 

* * * * * * *

Then I woke up. Finally, a dream I could remember! It'd been a long time--since San Francisco I think? 

Why do I value dreaming? It really is simple, I sometimes rely on the images and adventures from dream to meditate on during walks. They may or may not have anything to do with my current status. But, the dreams lately seem to be referencing my journey specifically. It was nice to be able to recall one of these, and know for sure that the trip was on my mind even when I was asleep.

The newish spot had worked well...

Things were covered with dew and I had to let them dry before I headed out.

Dove stencils are painted along the park path.

Here's a nice place on Main Street for lease. The space goes way back, maybe 50 feet.

When I got to Starbuck's I charged the laptop for about 5 minutes got online without buying anything. Thankfully, someone had donated enough to cover some items I needed, and my living expenses for the next two days. It was a great feeling. STILL, I would need to raise and save money toward a train ticket. Though I only need around $35.00, it could take time to accumulate that much.

I wrote and posted the last two days' blog entries and then went to Safeway to get one of their monster subs. It was about $8.00 (you know the one I'm talking about!), and it could last for three meals. It was a long walk. I didn't realize it would be three miles. Nevertheless, it was great to have food I could keep with me. They also had a clean restroom--Safeways in the west do not lock their restrooms, nor give people a hard time for using them, which I think the homeless really appreciate and respect--I know I do. They also had an AC outlet and free Wi-Fi. I sat and ate a third of that giant, while transferring new files and working on a couple of essays.

Because I had left my sleeping spot so late in the morning, and had spent an hour walking to Safeway, with another hour to walk back to Main Street, I left right after eating.

On the way back down Mill Plain Road, I immediately stumbled across New Vansterdam, the recreational dispensary for Vancouver. It was packed with people. I went in and looked around. It was historic for me to be able to see how the now-legal process worked. I talked to a couple guys and a girl who worked there. They were very informative and well-informed.

Apparently, the process of buying is pretty easy. First you need to show your ID. They accepted mine (even though it was expired), because they were simply looking for age verification. Then you go into the lobby - which is a bit of a tight squeeze for how many people were there - and you can see all of the paraphernalia, and read through the information about each strain of "flower" (what buds are called now). They also have pre-rolled stuff, concentrates and edibles--including soda (or "pop" as it's called out here).

The prices for flowers range from quite reasonable ($12.00/gram) to outrageous($50.00/gram). When you've decided what you want, you enter that particular grower's letters into a tablet, which then brings up all of their products. You tap the one you want, and then choose the quantity. That order, along with your first name is sent to the checkout counter, where they ring you up. Finally, they send you to the distribution counter where you show your receipt and receive your product.

From what I could glean, it was a smooth running process. All the clients and staff were very professional. The place was super-clean, and much more relaxed and sociable than any liquor store might be, that's for sure. I finished my investigation and continued back toward Main Street.

Here, and in Oregon, the legalization process has been a stunning success. This is not necessarily just because it is relatively well-organized, but because it has had little-to-no impact on society. It is simply another alternative to more dangerous and problematic drugs, like alcohol. Already, the plain normality of possessing and using cannabis is apparent. It can't be used in public. But there is only a $27 ticket fine, no confiscation and no record of the misdemeanor, or doing so. 

People aren't jumping off rooftops, and children aren't lying around on the streets in a weed-induced daze. If one wasn't interested in the subject, one would notice no difference in the societal routine here, at all. It is refreshing to see how all of this has not made an especially big impact. It also proves beyond the shadow of a doubt (at least for me) that it could work in any state, and eventually will.

I got back into the downtown area and it was already 6:30 pm. I wanted to go to the sleeping place early and try testing out a tent idea for emergency rain storms...

The pile of mulch I spent the night with. It was a pretty strong smell.

And, even though it wasn't entirely unpleasant, it approached that point by the morning.

Beautiful, red sunset filtering through the still-present fire smoke in the west,

where 25,000 acres have already burned.

My "strap glasses"; geeky, but very practical. They rarely leave my neck. 

I thought I'd show another style of set up that I use or sitting in places...

Quarter tarp for sitting.

Trash bag, off the ground.

Nice to see this in a bottle now. One dollar plus tax.

A clean set-up for sitting.

This is a water drain access tunnel, I believe.

I call this the "hummingbird tree", since there are three or four

humming birds that congregate there in the morning and at night.

They are hard to capture in photos.

Darkness closing in...

So, here is my attempt at a makeshift emergency tarp-tent for rain storms...

Side view. The stake at the bottom is at the wrong angle, from a first attempt.

Head end. A stick is used where my walking stick would have been used if I hadn't given it away.

Foot end. I call this shape "the shark".

It was really warm still and the mosquitoes were out in full force. They aren't as tenacious as New England ones, but they do try. Their style isn't to hover around and sneak into a juicy patch of skin. No! These gals just charged, Kamikaze-dive-bomb style, at my face, head, wrists and legs, with no apparent fear of death. I dealt out death to just about every one. If I had tried sleeping in my tent, I would have been trapped there with them. There was no way I wouldn't just sleep out in the open again. Still, this was a great test of the poTENTial of my tarp's ability to still shelter me if/when it ever rains again here.

I disassembled the tent and laid out the standard tarp and sleeping bag style seen at the top of this post. I was really tired for some reason, and my left baby toe was not feeling much better. I removed the socks and rubbed it with a tri-mix Neosporin--with pain relieving action, and just let the feet cool off and continue to heal outside the sleeping bag.

I noticed a phenomenon there. The cold evening air dumps right into the little river valley at about 9:00 pm. Then the mosquitoes are less frequent and if I'm on top of the sleeping bag, I crawl into it. It is good sleeping weather so far. Didn't take long for me to fall asleep.