Someone to Cover His Feet

Seeing a new city is always an experience. First you see the buildings. Then, the landscape comes into view, the vegetation, trees, and many, many flowers, with other members of the landscape, the busy, busy people who are walking and talking fast. They, with their little dogs and iPhones, are constant fixtures in this place. Suddenly, you turn a fraction of a degree and see something else: a head snuggled under a blanket, the owner of which is snuggled into the underside of a building.

I learn a city by its people. There’s tourists, of course, the regulars, and then the real regulars. These are they that eat and sleep and breathe both in and on and under the city, those who know it by its bridges because that’s where they sleep, those that know the transit system because that’s how they try to make a few bucks, those that know the places that are warm and cold and have nice bathrooms.

The place that fits the description is usually the city library, which is where I head to begin my project that first Monday morning. There, at the Free Library of Philadelphia, I’m planning on checking out a few books on health insurance to get myself acquainted with this complex though crucial world of insurance. I also know that public libraries are usually home to city health programs and service activities, so it’s a good place to get started.