It’s amazing how the bright sun, blue sky and no wind can make a day so good! I started with a wonderful tea left by a friend, instant oatmeal i made by boiling some water and an apple given to me by a friend’s son last night, when I went to pick up a pillow… did I mention I forgot to pack a pillow? It was cheating a bit to ask for a pillow, but everyone keeps telling me to ask for what i need, I know most homeless people don’t have that luxury.
I met up with Colleen the Crossing Guard just before the morning rush starts, and oh my, what a rush it was! Traffic came to a standstill many times, right in front of the tent. I tried to make eye contact with as many people as possible, but quite often people just looked away. I explained to Colleen what I was up to, she offered to share this with the parents who asked her what the heck was going on on the corner at the church. And she shared, setting many people straight as to the purpose of the tent… even going so far as to stop traffic to make sure a man in a truck understood it completely!
As you can guess, I moved the tent, into what i hope is a better location for wind. It took a while as I stubbornly refused to empty my belongs first… after all the ground was wet! The tent slide somewhat easily from it’s original place to it’s new home. I reset the poles, securing all four of them with extra bungees and pegs and then reconfigured the tarp to what I hope is a better set up - one that the wind can whistle through while still protecting me from rain. I wondered as i worked on it what it must be like for people who are given a tent, with proloby the minimum of accessories. I have bungees, pegs, and tarps, with extra nylon flies from previous tents to layer up. The tent is quite old and proloby on it’s last trip, but it is good - except when it’s collapsing on top of me. I think when I return home I might drop off the tarps and extra flies to the encampments I drive by each day. And some Tim’s gift cards.
I had many visits today, from friends and strangers. My breakfast was boosted by a breakfast sandwich and coffee, a congregant dropped off cheese slices and another coffee and I enjoyed half a sandwich that was very delicious. I shared a half a bagel and enjoyed a large coffee with my supervisor from work. We chatted about everything and tried to get people to wave at us. Wow was that hard! We did get some honks and waves but the non-participants out weighed the success. We sat at first in the sun, but then it moved behind the church and the shade was quite cold very quickly. Worshipping the sun has taken on a whole new meaning for me now. And I walked around today - mainly to the Fleming Centre for the toilets and charging devices, and I walked only on the sunny sides of the street, crossing as needed to stay warm. Now I’m feeling like I might have a sun burn on my face!
I heard from Melanie in the Church office, first thing this morning, that a By-Law Officer stopped by. Colleen had mentioned that someone said they were going to call the Town and report me. Melanie spoke with the by-law person, who said what he was seeing was nothing like what was reported, but that he needed to speak with his boss. I waited for a while to see if he was coming back, but as I had needs that made me leave, I never spoke with him. I did meet up with Ralph, a member of our congregation who was sorting through the aluminum cans he collects as a church fundraiser, he mentioned that he spoke with the two By-law people who had stopped by around 3pm. They didn’t seem to want to do anything, he said they were looking to speak with me. I hung around for a while but they never appeared.
A reporter arrived though, from NewsNow. My brain is mush, I am not sure of his name! Sorry Mr. reporter! He asked some really tough questions. This was no powder-puff interview! We debated options and ideas, talked a little social history of Canada and when he was done, and after he took some hopefully flattering photos, I realized I was quite tired from all that brain work!
Then it was time for another trip to the Fleming Centre, and then I decided to use some Wendy’s rewards I’d been saving and the change I had from yesterday’s $10 windfall for dinner. I left just before 5pm and wow, Wendy’s was a lot farther than I remember! And with the construction on Ontario Street, it was not the wisest choice.
And so I am sitting here in Wendy’s typing this. Also giving my body a chance to recover. So far, I have 18,625 steps in. About 5,000 more than yesterday. From trying to keep warm in the sun and to get dinner. In cities, people who rely on the various food opportunities in the city often walk much much more than that just trying to get three meals and a warm place to take a break. And I am wearing very comfy boots with nice fluffy (or at least this morning they were) socks. Of course the fact that Beamsville doesn’t have any transit options makes getting anywhere more complicated and physical. There is a GO Bus car park about 10 minutes from here, if someone had a job in any city on the GO route, and didn’t have a car, they would have a 40minute walk, from downtown, in all weather to get to the bus and then again to get home. There are a lot of apartments in houses and over stores in downtown Beamsville, and not a lot of places to work. Having a car is more of a need than a luxury, and it’s a luxury not many can afford.
Other physical difficulties today… painful carpel issues with my right hand and wrist, stemming from my right shoulder… proloby caused by setting up the tent… twice… and wrestling with it in the wind. Sleeping with my hand locking blankets around my neck proloby didnt help either. I woke few times with really bad tingles and pain through the night. So please forgive the typos, especially the lower case i’s… doing my best. And I am tired. No electricity means no CPAP machine so I never hit a good deep sleep, I just surf around in a light sleep, waking every two hours or so.
I am not whining! I am trying to show how what I take for granted in my privileged life is so far away from the reality of sleeping in parks, doorways and anywhere other than inside a building.
The people who drove by the tent site today that looked the other way instead of making eye contact or waving have something in common with each other, and with homeless people and people living in poverty… most people are one or two paycheques away from needing to make serious decisions about where their food is coming from, or where they will be living. Many others are dealing with life decisions they made that now mean they have no rent money and car payments to make, never mind whether they can buy food.
So I invite you to make eye contact with everyone you encounter in your day, but especially anyone who is homeless. Engage them in a smile and if it’s something you can do, have a conversation, let them know you see them. I spent much of yesterday and today being invisible and I don’t think it’s going to get much better.
Don’t worry, I’m not getting dragged down… when I feel like things are getting too bad, I read the comments and inspiring messages on facebook etc., that lifts me up very quickly. That and knowing how many people out there are supporting me. My husband sending me texts about what our cat Riskie is up to help too! And did I mention the 200 word texts from me mum? Best thing ever, teaching her how to text!
Right, need to pack up and start the long walk back… after I post to socials of course!
Night Night… ‘til tomorrow!
Thanks for your support… if you haven’t yet, please visit trinitybeamsville.ca to send an email to the MPP of your choice.
Comments
Post a Comment