What I See in Thawed City Streets

Written as an account of an actual walk through the streets of Portland this January 9, after a single day of non-freezing snow-melting weather — one of Portland’s iciest weeks on record. Portland is back to usual tonight. The rain is steady and the smell of donuts moves like an invisible steam through the streets. …

Furrows of Worry

How we trade truth for belief for money Home is where the heart is, so you’re never really homeless. This cliche might be mustered up by some average passerby, one whose heart is not frozen by the coldness of economic analysis. It implies at least that he or she is reassuring someone that life is …

Homelessness and Tripping

There is not so fine a line between homelessness and vacationing. For one very broad line, the person lacking permanent housing must be absolutely lacking it. In other words, saving up a couple thousand dollars to backpack across Europe is essentially the American middle class birthright to which we tout ourselves as being so resourceful …