Porta-Potties to the left of me, Porta-Potties to the right of me

Why Porta-Potties? Well, you see, the city is doing its maintenance thing in my neighborhood, and so far, the workers have taken over all available parking, cut off water once when they cut into the wrong pipe (they're working on updating the gas lines), broken a hydrant so I came home to gushing water running down the street, covered their holes with large, awkward steel plates, and covered everything with a fine grit, which since this is Seattle has combined with the rain that comes with this season, making everything, well, icky.

It's the Potties that make me crazy, though. There are two of them on my block. They're not even color-coordinated, since one is this institutional green and the other is this flat, faded peach. Not just one. TWO. We are truly blessed. I know this is all temporary, and the Porta-Potties and the spare pipes tossed around and abandoned and the other things just dumped in places randomly will be gone before I can complain too much longer (can you sense the hope in my words? Yeah, I couldn't either). 

But in the meantime, in this season of happiness and joy, I'm tempted to decorate the Potties with some Christmas decorations, just to perk them up a little. 

Eilis Flynn

ECHOES OF PASSION, on sale next year