What is this place?The water is just like glass. There used to be a river…. somewhere way below the surface but that was not good enough… for us. Now we are high up in what used to be GlenCanyon. Floating. A massive houseboat goes by. The petroleum to fill that tank easilycost thousands of dollars but I suspect that does not trouble them. This is their world.We just live here…What is this life?Thousands of miles I travel… from town to town but I am never the stranger. “JohnWhipple” the man behind the bar says… and so does the woman at the coffee house. I donot know their names. It is like I am famous but I am not famous. I am as poor and aslonely as you will find.I am a loner but, somehow, I have all these friends. Not facebook friends. Real friends.Friends that take me in… cook meals for me… Sometimes I live large even though I am broke. There is another way. Yes. It is waiting outside your door. You have been insidetoo long. You need to come out here.We drink and I soak in their stories. They are often sad… even tragic… These are good people and they are fighting so hard… but losing. Losing their homes… their future… Ican tell they feel so alone. They are not alone. I hear their stories everywhere. In PortlandOregon. Phoenix Arizona. Mancos Colorado. Nantes France… town after town. You arenot alone. There is nothing wrong with you. The world you are trying to live in simplydoes not exist. Not anymore. Not for you. It is time to leave.It’s funny how the TV keeps telling you everything is alright… but things are not alright. Not by a long shot. But you know they will be airing that “Lexus’ December toRemember” commercial the day you are locked out of your home. The news will keepreporting the latest political squabble… no matter how irrelevant… no matter howasinine… as if it is important… as if it relates to reality. They will accept lies from our leaders as fact… no matter how glaringly obvious they are. They will not question it.The TV says we are divided but I can tell you we are not. I travel from red to blue from black to red to white from gay to straight. We have so much more in common than youcould ever imagine. I travel with a friend from Paris who remarks that the rednecks aremuch nicer than the hipsters. We all have something to learn. We all have something toteach. It is only the TV that divides us.The TV says “Goodnight to all you still aboard this sinking ship. To those overboard, best of luck and no, those golden lifeboats are not for you.”…