Keep Seattle Weird

Gum wall: weirdest part of Seattle.

Today marks month four in America and month (nearly) two in our home and I can finally say I am feeling normal again. Normal is relative, though. I'm remembering all the ways Seattle is a quirky, unique city and I'm trying to adjust to what "normal" is here. Luxembourg is a gleaming, wealthy, clean, utopian country. Seattle's still got its .... grunge.

I've kept a few notes about some randomness all around me. 

And remember how I said I love eavesdropping again? Here are some snippets of conversations around town; they cracked me up. 

"...and they sold it to Oprah...”
“...and Janine was really happy about it...”
“...blackberry bushes! Bahaha! Just line the whole fence with them.”
“What are you gonna do, sit at home depressed about a shitty boyfriend? Come on universe, give me and my friends a break.”
“I always tell you guys all the reasons I don’t like Din Tai Fung...”

Adam loved that last one... it could have come from his own mouth. 

Seen around town, much of it at the park across the street from my house:

Three people combing their long hair. Obsessively. 
A woman playing a pan flute wearing an orange dress.
One black wig sitting on a grassy knoll for three days.
A man that appeared to be a homeless professor, walking a Lime Bike down the sidewalk at 7:30 am with a tub of Red Vines and a bottle of juice in the basket.
People protesting on the overpass with a giant sign and two Native Americans banging drums.
A pre-teen dressed as Spider Man doing stunts all over the playground, generally making everyone's day and causing a gaggle of young girls to chase him while screaming, "Take off your mask!"
A 30-something woman wearing a shower cap while shopping at Target with blue hair dye underneath.
A woman at the park alternating playing two separate, bulbous bamboo flutes. I told her it was lovely, and I meant it. She just kept saying, "Bamboo. Bamboo."
A man walking down the street, carrying a cardboard sign that said, "God is imaginary. Love unconditionally."
A man shooting up at the park across the street as I watched while vacuuming my third floor bedroom. Should I have called the police? Shrug.

There is a lot of drug use in my neighborhood. The homeless population here was bad last time we lived here, but it's much worse this time.

It's hard to watch. It's hard to know what to do. 

Adam took pizza to that guy in the park. He was passed out into the evening. In the morning, he was gone, but the paper plate and tin foil were there.

It is a little heartbreaking to live here.