My office is in my loft. Well, if you can call it an office. It's a desk really - with a chair - and lots of papers on top, with a few baskets filled with stuff, and a laptop and printer.
My bed is behind me, and my dining table in front of me. Not fancy, but very functional.
Most of the time you will find me sitting at my desk. Working away. I'll either be on my cell phone, on my computer, or sometimes...just staring out the window. Yes, I love to stare out my big arched windows. It fills me up with creative inspiration. Helps keep me energized.
I watch the people hurriedly walking by and those standing restlessly waiting for buses. I look at the colorful murals and am transported to the places they take me too. I see people going in and out of restaurants. And I listen to the sounds of buses, fire trucks, sirens, and often times the yelling of a homeless person - wanting to be heard.
As I said it moves me.
Mid-day is the busiest downtown. And as the sun sets so does the action. It becomes quieter and quieter. I however keep on working - sometimes way into the night.
It was on one of those nights that I saw her. It was the end of dusk actually - and there she was - a woman, draped in a shawl, hair swept up on top of her head, sitting on the edge of the building rooftop across from where I live. My first reaction was - oh no, she's going to jump. I am going to be a witness to a suicide. Not good.
Then, just as I was ready to call 911 and yell, "Lady on the roof, lady on the roof, come quickly!," I saw her hold a pen and start writing in what looked like a journal. All this woman wanted to do was sit on the roof and write down her thoughts. She'd write, look wistfully out onto the horizon, then write some more. I was fascinated.
She only stayed up there for about five minutes. I saw her shudder in the cold. Then leave.
And I - her voyeur - had another tale to tell. Another moment of inspiration. And without ever meeting her, I knew I had met a kindred spirit.
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