circus show...

the loonies are out in full force today.  i work on a very "colorful" block in everett.  the warmer months tend to bring out more of my colorful neighbors than the wetter cooler months.  my work is located close to the courthouse, across from a bar that serves $1.00 beers everyday starting at 11:00am, surrounded by transitional housing, a few businesses and a very active alley.  where i sit i have floor to ceiling windows on two sides that face the a major thoroughfare and the alley.  the alley has a slight grade to it, so i am kind sitting in a hole compared to the grade of the street. 

so everyday, i sit and watch the peeps that inhabit everett.  we have our regulars; chad.  i know his name because our mailman has been able to put  names with faces for me.  chad lives in an apartment across the street.  he appears to be in his 40's and has an affinity for chocolate milk, black clothing, and twirling.  everyday, rain or shine he stands outside his building, places a gallon of chocolate milk on the ground and twirls around the unload/load sign for hours.  he occasionally makes small talk with people who are also on the street, but most of the time he just twirls.  i rarely see him drink from his gallon of milk, but it is always gone by the time he heads back indoors. 

then we have the lady who yells at me in the alley.  she is also a resident of the block.  she frequently tells me how lucky i am that i have a job and gets angry if i don't stop to talk to her.  for some reason she always wants to talk to me when it is raining and i am just wanting to get out the weather.  i see her yelling at other people who are walking up the block, which makes me think maybe she isn't really yelling it's just how she talks. 

then there is the guy who pees in the alley.  this is really gross, but at least once a week he relieves himself.  what i find funny is that he casually walks down the alley, sidles up to the wall, looks both ways then whips it out and pees.  i want to yell at him, "dude i can see you", but it happens so fast i never get the opportunity to do so.

so the other day we had a man swinging from our awning.  on the outside of our building is a teal green awning, each awning is supported by four bars and there is a light fixture in the middle.  i was busily working at my computer when i saw something out of the corner of my eye and could hear some ruckus.  i looked over and there was a man traversing the block swinging from the bars of the awning.  he attempted to swing from the light fixture but it was not secure enough to support his weight so he got down.   that was a first, i hadn't seen that before.

there is a woman who stands on the corner who i think may have been a clown in a previous life.  she wears a really big floppy hat with some crazy get up.  her "act" she catches koosh balls with her bosom and then shimmies them out.  unfortunately i won't be able to see her show anymore, she was hauled off by the city police.  she didn't go quietly, created a huge scene and actually made the paper the next day.  hey sometimes we just want to see our name in print and don't really care how we get it.

today i saw a man "walking" his ferret down the sidewalk.  i use the word walking casually because really the man was dragging his pet.  at first i thought it might be a toy because the creature was very inanimate, but then it came alive and was fighting back...the little guy was back pedaling as fast as he could not wanting to continue down the street.  after several minutes the man picked up his feisty beast.  i wonder where they were headed??

everyday brings something new.  people throwing up, ambulances collecting passed out people in the alley, cops surrounding the buildings...i don't get too freaked out that is until they draw their weapons and tell us to stay inside our building with the doors locked, the lady that rolls her joint outside my window daily. i have seen fist fights, ladies who are only dressed from the waist up, and a man wearing a red gingham short and matching shirt outfit singing the mexican hat dance song.   if you are a people watcher, this is the place to be.  the activity slows down in the winter when it is soggy and cold, but the regulars are still here.