He’s there every day, on a magnificent\nConde McCullough bridge, the ocean in sight, sweeping the sidewalks\nfrom end to end. Neon orange stocking cap, a garden variety plastic\nkitchen broom, Seahawks jersey (#72), Thermos, backpack. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The routine started a couple weeks ago\nand he’s never missed a day. Consistent rain hasn’t yet fallen this\nOregon November and I wonder if he’ll sweep when the weather turns\nwet and windy. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His technique is rigorous. He handles\nthe broom well. He doesn’t talk to himself aloud. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know his face pretty well. How could\nI not when I’ve driven across a narrow two-land bridge and pass\nwithin five or six feet of him? I guess I might not know his face if\nI wasn’t looking for it. I never want to ignore a face like this, nor\nany face I encounter. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He’s an older man, clean shaven, neat\nshort gray hair. I’ve never seen him smile. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conde’s bridges certainly deserve this\nspecial care, but still, his appearance unsettles me. Who is he? Why\nis he sweeping? Where does he live? How does he live? This is the\nkind of story I want to investigate as a writer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are countless stories like this\none. They multiply before my very eyes. I see so many people moving\nalong Highway 101 doing strange things and living with nothing except\nfor what they carry on their backs, their bicycles, in their wagons,\nwheelbarrows, baby strollers, grocery carts and rolling suitcases.\nMany of these people have dogs. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I do not recall seeing this scene ten\nor twenty years ago with anywhere close to the regularity I see it\nnow. I now see it five or ten times a day. And I live in rural\nOregon. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Something has truly gone wrong in\nAmerica. People are getting ground up. I want change. I want a\nPresidential candidate to address this story and not with cliches. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How can I help? \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps a start would be talking to the\nbridge sweeper. \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
He’s there every day, on a magnificent Conde McCullough bridge, the ocean in sight, sweeping the sidewalks from end to end. Neon orange stocking cap, a garden variety plastic kitchen broom, Seahawks jersey (#72), Thermos, backpack. The routine started a couple weeks ago and he’s never missed a day. Consistent rain hasn’t yet fallen this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5544,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meditations","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5543"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5546,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5543\/revisions\/5546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}