Something kinda strange is going on in Carpinteria, my home town.

Lately, I’ve been noticing a lot more people than usual sleeping on the grass in public places. I’m not talking about somebody taking a nap – or seemingly passed out – in the shade, in an out-of-the-way public park. I’m talking about people unconscious, face down, on the lawns right next to busy city streets. Today, there was somebody crashed right in front of the middle school, with a bicycle fallen beside them. Judging by the size, it was an adult, supine and sucking sod not 10 feet from the sidewalk on our busiest downtown street. Catchin’ some Z’s.

There was a cop car heading in that direction, so maybe the deputy took care of the situation. The streetsleeper was gone when I passed by again, a short time later.

I don’t think it should be illegal to catch a nap in the park, but not in front of the school. The kids don’t need to be stepping over the grownups. It ain’t right. And I would really prefer to see maybe a jacket spread on the ground, or a sweater used as a pillow, or anything that would lend to the reasonable impression that the person intended to be horizontal at that place and time. I mean I’ve seen several streetsleepers now, and they all look like they just had a sudden argument with gravity and lost.

What’s going on? Is there something in the water? I won’t drink the local swill, so maybe I’ll be the last man standing in Carp.