Well, today turned out to be far more interesting than I had originally planned. My sister Lisa and I went up to Western to run some final errands for her graduation (CONGRATS LISA!) and we wandered around campus a bit. Then, on the way back to Seattle we stopped at my home in Bothell and visited Tent City 4. We weren't sure what to get, so we picked up some fruit roll-ups and granola bars for a small donation. Lisa also bought me a disposable camera so I could take those pictures I've been promising. I got them developed (after another adventure entirely, more later) and so here's a very short walk-through of the camp-ground.
I took a picture from close to my driveway, but the blue of the tents didn't really show up well through the trees. This picture is from about halfway to the tent city from our house. You can see the police car sitting in front, and the blue tents showing through the foliage.
This picture is to demonstrate just how much distance is between the tent city and the fence surrounding the property. The green fence on the left of the image is the temporary fence. Then there's a drainage ditch, then another (more permanent) chain-link fence. On the other side of the chain-link fence is a small wetlands area, then the parking lot of Heritage Christian School. There is absolutely no danger to fingers.
Here's another shot of the city from the street. I wasn't sure if the residents would let me take pictures inside the camp itself, so I wanted to get some good shots from outside. The green fence up there is 50 feet from the road. They can't pitch any tents closer than fifty feet from the street. Also note the bumper of the police car. He was watching us very closely while we took pictures.
Once inside, nobody had any problems whatsoever with me taking pictures, as long as I asked permission before I took pictures of people. I was more concerned with giving you all an idea of how the camp is set up than of showing life in the camp, so that wasn't a big problem for me. They assigned Lisa and me a security guard, who kept his eye on us to make sure we didn't harass anyone, and let us loose inside their home. Oh yeah, and they weren't too keen on the granola bars (everyone is donating them) but the fruit roll-ups were really popular.
This is the chow tent. Only two tents have electricity, this and the entertainment tent (which has the only TV in camp). This is the only place they can go for hot water. It's set up on a number of pallettes, not all of them even.
Speaking of even, I really wanted to get an image that would give people an idea of how absolutely rotten this ground is for camping and walking on. It's all bumps. This is a picture of Lisa's feet. The bare spots tend to be the higher spots, while the grassy bits are lower. The ground also has a ton of roots and lots of rocks sticking up. As I said, less than a year ago, this was a heavily wooded lot. When they took out most of the trees they didn't till or level the ground at all. It's not good camping ground.
This is "the facilities". The guard was quite bemused that I wanted to get a shot of it, but I wanted to point out that this is IT. For 100 people. There are no showers, no running water... just five honey buckets on the edge of camp.
This is a standard "avenue" in the camp. Virtually all the tents had aquired blue tarps by my second visit, and this time the tarps were looking a bit rained on. The tarps keep out the rain, but keep in the air... the tents aren't a comfortable place when it's warm (like it has been around here lately) but wet. Each tent has a sign on it, wrapped in plastic, to indicate who is living in it currently.
Here's another "security" shot. This is the back fence. The inner fence is a temporary chain-link. The fence behind it has been around awhile. You can see the playground in the distance, but there's a field and a parking lot between it and the tent city. No danger here.
While waiting to get my film developed at the local store, I spotted a deal on camping lanterns, only $5 apiece. While I'm sure they aren't the highest quality, they look pretty nice. I bought two to take up to the camp when I get my comics on Wednesday.
They told Lisa they are in desperate need of bottled water right now, as the donations of water have fallen off and they still don't really trust their water supply for drinking. So if you are in the area and feel like donating, take them some water.
For my previous posts on the subject: first reaction, letter to the Seattle Times (they did not publish it), attack of the killer newsvans (ok, just a mention that hubby-Eric was nearly run down by some), my first visit to the tent city, another Bothell resident responds, tent city in the news, my second visit to the tent city, and more tent city in the news.
