every now and then you hear a story about a homeless person found dead in the park. and sometimes it turns out they had just been laying there all dead for several hours - if not days. that is a sad thought. people die in their homes, and no one finds them for days or weeks, but they were inside a house. the thought of someone being dead right in front of everyone as they make their way to work - it's pretty disheartening. well, not on my watch. i was at a park in the middle of the day doing standard park stuff (flying kites non-stop, cartwheels, etc) and i saw a figure over near the fence. it was a lump of black fabric. not a sleeping bag, not a blanket. like a thick sheet. and under the sheet, some long black curly hair stuck out. my hunch, based on the lump, was that this was a male. suddenly, as i watched the clump of fabric and hair, i thought "is this guy dead?" and i was about to waltz over and ask as much ...but then i realized how insulting that is if the person is not dead. "oh, sorry. thought your life was so bad that not only were you sleeping in a park - but that you'd become deceased while doing so. carry on." how do you casually just check on that? if he was asleep, no one likes to be woken up. yes, it's nice to have people care about you, but a stranger shaking your shoulder to see you arise and then going "oh good. he's alive! everyone relax!" won't brighten anyone's day. so instead of waking up the figure - i waited. i watched with the intensity of a bird enthusiast. was that a rise in the fabric? what about that?? ....yes! or wait ...yes, that definitely was. alright! way to live, park guy! the subtlety in breath and movement was almost unnoticeable - but it was there. he was living! as i exited the park feeling pretty good that no stranger had been dead right in front of me on my watch, i saw that laying right next to the figure was a guitar. and that made me hope i was seeing a good old fashioned rags to riches story. "yeah mom, it's going pretty good. getting some decent gigs. it's a long road. hmm? oh, at jeff's house. yeah, he's got a decent couch. okay, talk to you soon. love you too." then roll on over and finish a solid park sleep ...without some jerk waking you up to see if you're still living.