Seattle Loneliness

Loneliness, at least the feeling, increases with every moment of the day. Traveling in the United States isn't as much fun as other countries, as the people, even the foreigners, aren't very friendly. I find myself alone more and more. Pain in the right foot, the foot that was burned recently, has increased; thus, I suppose there was more nerve damage than expected.

After relaxing this morning in the City Hostel, having a free breakfast, doing some Blogging, and checking emails I was off to walk the Seattle downtown district. They have an area of town where the buses are free to ride, which makes it great for tourists like me to get around, so I hoped a bus and rode down to the other side of town. The area where I stopped was the old town area. This was where the original town of Seattle began, burned and was rebuilt above the old town ruins. The underground provided details about how after the city burned they rebuilt. The businesses rebuilt their buildings knowing that the town was going to raise the streets (in most areas by 10 feet, but in increasing in other areas to over 30 feet.). Thus, the new buildings had a basic first floor, knowing it would soon become a basement level, and incredible second floors, soon to become the first floor on the new street level.

The Underground area is actually the old sidewalks, which were bridged over to allow access from the new street level to the businesses. Before these old sidewalks were covered, people had to climb ladders from the street level down to the businesses, and then to get across the street, had to climb the ladder again, cross the street, and then down another ladder. As we walked through these areas we were informed of how these areas have been used over the years, such as for prostitution(the women's sewing league), Opium dens, and many other things, including housing for the homeless. Occasionally there would be an area of natural light, when they covered over the old sidewalks they installed areas of glass blocks for natural light into the areas below. While walking the new sidewalks you walk right over these same glass blocks, never knowing what lies beneath.

After the Underground Tour I just walked around enjoying the architecture and people. Today marked a new feeling, that feeling of being truly alone out here. Either age or just becoming more mature, I find myself desiring to have a companion. It would be nice to have a friend, or something more, to travel with me, but here I am, alone.

Walking along the piers, I discovered several streets that had been converted into pedestrian malls of sorts with fun and unusual stairs, water features, and plants - lots of plants. Then onto Pike's Market, the area where all the tourists gathered. There were a lot of vendors, including the famous Pike's Fish Market where they throw the fish to the delight of the tourists. I kept noticing all of the people were walking and talking with others and having a good time. This just increased the feeling of being alone.

My right foot now very uncomfortable, I decided to walk my way back to the hostel to relax. Now I'm writing, uploading photos to Facebook, and wondering how life will be in the future. Is there a companion in my future or have I become one of those old maids destined to always be alone? While walking back to the hostel, my heart was saddened even more as I passed the homeless, the awkward, the outcasts of society. Questioning the state of our society, and what would become of these people, only led to the thought, and probably fact, that I am one of them, no longer a part of society. An outcast, not by society, but by myself, realized through the knowledge that the way I live my life, along with my mental and physical impairments, has brought me to a place I never dreamed I could ever be - frightfully alone.

Some of the photos taken during my Seattle exploration: