Local Bird Lady

This is Helen Veronica, Foggy Bottom's neighborhood bird lady. She said she spends $70 a week to feed the birds popcorn and birdseed. The homeless guys in the park like her. One of them named Eugene calls her Miss Helen, everyone else calls her Roni. I met Eugene while I was waiting in the park to meet Roni. When I went across the street to get a drink at the drug store one clerk told the other Roni was so good-hearted that she, "has already made it to Heaven."

Homeless Stereo System

This is Eugene's radio that he seems to have tuned to classic rock most of the time. He lives in Potomac Plaza Park. He told me about Miss Helen's cat before I saw it. He said it was a big fat cat. When I first saw it come out of her apartment into the hall I was surprised by its size. I saw that the hair on its back was matted. Roni said it was because her cat couldn't reach its back to clean itself. About five minutes later she told me it was because the cat had been shedding a lot, so Roni put moisturizer on its fur earlier. "It was a bad idea," she laughed.