On The Second Day of 2009

…near the northeast corner of Garfield High School, a memorial to Quincy Coleman, the 15-year-old boy murdered on Halloween 2008

…the 1901 Horace Mann School at 24th and Cherry, built in 1901 of old growth fir and cedar, back before we forgot that windows are a great source of free interior lighting, scheduled to be closed next year…

…on the Garfield playground, likely a leftover from outdoor festivities two nights prior, this magnificent can once contained a 23.5 ounces of fruit punch-flavored malt beverage (11% alcohol) spiked with caffeine, ginseng, and taurine

…in the gentrifying CD, “intruder” is a charged word for more than one reason, though not usually associated with RVs — this home, with the high-security screen door common in the neighborhood, apparently houses a family that prefers the kind of intruding that happens out on the open road…

…and over near 22nd and Union, already retrenching, the van parked for good, while the satellite dish retains a connection to the outside world.