Urban Wildlife And The Cardboard Parliament
Skua: a large scavenging sea bird, infamous for harassing the populace here. They steal human food whenever they can, and kill penguin chicks in or newly hatched from the egg.
The flight for Tuesday was delayed again due to weather. So I went back to the main city library to use their maker-space while I waited the day out. This is a really remarkable library. I ran across it while trying to research how to find The Wizard of Christchurch, and discovered perhaps my favorite place in town.
Back when the earthquake hit Christchurch in 2011, the city was devastated. I learned from one of the librarians that the local libraries (if they were still standing) were some of the most heavily trafficked locations in town, as people used them as meeting points to get information, to meet with people, and to find shelter. As such, when the new central library was being built, it was conceived as a place that would be a community center. Not only does it have books on all five floors, but it also has a coffee shop on the ground floor, large and small meeting and study rooms, spaces to play tabletop games and virtual reality areas for games and educational VR apps which broadcast to large screens on the wall. There are interactive touchscreen mural-maps on one wall near the entry that show and tell about Christchurch, and a couple of auditoriums for seminars and for free Saturday family-friendly movies. There are collections of art tucked away everywhere, from traditional Maori
The fourth floor (the fifth by American reconning), has a small recording studio with lessons on how to use music and video recording equipment and software, as well as a maker studio with sewing machines, a laser cutter, 3-D printers, and a studio for teaching digital maker software like Tinkercad, and Rhino. The children's floor was designed with input from elementary students who insisted that a good library should have, a tree, a slide, and lots of Legos in addition to all the books.
And the aged transvestite with a hairy chest wearing a shocking pink satin and taffeta strapless ball gown. A community center for all. He was deeply engaged with the biography section.
I wanted to make a minor repair on my canvas back pack, and so I needed some black canvas or denim to do that. I considered going to a fabric store in town, but as I had lost my trusty ride, the Hepdomadal Waka gambling with pirates, I would have had to pay for a taxi, or walked a great deal farther than I wanted. However, it occured to me that I might find some fabric in the Skua Room at the Antarctic processing center. And what is the Skua Room? When people travel to and from the Ice, often they leave things behind, due to weight limitations, or carelessness, or any number of other reasons. Whatever the case, the materiel is collected and sorted. If it is still in good condition and servicable, it is put into a room in the back of the ECW (extreme cold weather) gear issue warehouse. Anyone with the program can come and take whatever they like from the Skua room, and is free to leave donations themselves. I found a pair of black jeans sized for someone rotund, with meaty legs, and took them. I spent Tuesday afternoon sewing for several hours on the machines. It was very engaging and relaxing to refamiliarize myself with sewing on a machine, and after the minor repair was finished, I ended up designing some pocket inserts for the cargo pockets in my pants to keep things a little neater and more orderly. Then I designed and made a new belt carrier for my leatherman. Altogether, it was a fun and productive afternoon, and it didn't cost a dime.
Pleased with my work, I wandered slowly in the direction of the city bus station, looking for a place to have some dinner, and even more importantly, something warm to drink, as it had gotten a bit chillier after the sun set. As I went, I once again ran across Maureen whom I'd met before with her cardboard sign and change bucket. She was huddled under a blanket, blowing on her hands, breath steaming before her. I said hi to her, and we went to go get some coffee and a sandwich at the shop down on the corner. As we went in, she was warmly greeted by a handful of folk who she introduced me to. Sean, is a tall, jolly, red bearded fellow, and he was looking out for a small slip of a girl that couldn't have been more than 90 pounds. Her name is Chane, and Chane had no shoes, dancing to stay warm. Manu, a lean Maori fellow with long salt and pepper hair and a ear-splitting grin, was with them, and Maureen gave him a hug in passing. It seemed to me with all the goodwill among them, that we should all sit and have coffee, so we did. Another fellow was passing on a most peculiar bicycle, and I recognized him as the fellow who'd fed the eels the first day I went downtown. His name it turns out, is Gary, and he joined us.
Sean seems to keep up with what is going on when the Ice People are in town, as we talked a bit about the flight delays. He pointed me in the direction of the best bars in the area, noting that the Ice People billeted downtown are frequenters. I asked him if he joins them there, and he shook his head forcefully, confessing that while he used to drink like a fish, he most assiduously avoids alcohol now. Raising his warm cup of joe, he noted that coffee with lots of sugar was better on a chilly night anyway. Maureen and Manu it turns out, share the change that they get for gas money. Manu has a tiny blue car, the sort of which I am beginning to notice, is exceedingly common in New Zealand. He lost his job about a year ago, and lives either out of his car, or whenever he can, in a shelter. Maureen was in ebulient spirits as she explained to us how she had managed to get in contact with her ex-husband who has full custody of her children. She had arranged to meet them for the afternoon in the best playground in town (and it is really, really cool). It was the first time in over two years that she had been able to visit with them. She has been going to classes at the shelter she explained, and has been working toward getting into a half-way house again, with Manu joining her. Everyone congratulated her, and after raising their coffee cups in a toast, collected the money they had gotten that day, and they adjourned to go try to make it to the shelter before the doors closed. Maureen gave me a hug and asked me to be careful going south. I asked the Cardboard Parliament to pray for me, and we parted ways.
As I was checking out to go check in to fly that morning, word came in that we would be delayed till Thursday.
Alas.
But it did occur to me, that I had seen a box of shoes in the Skua Room. I went through them, looking for what I estimated to be about Chane's size, and took them. Getting on the bus, I had a mission, and so I went downtown again.
Not seeing any of last night's company on the streets around the library, I spent a few hours reading with a cup of tea. As the sun began to slip low in the sky, I wandered out again, and before long I found Manu and Maureen eating burgers on the sidewalks. We chatted a bit and I asked where Chane and Sean were. They had not seen them yet, but suggested I look for Chane near the memorial bridge near, "the three ladies".
Shoes in hand, I went on a mission of mercy.
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