Solution: SNUGGIES!

Oh... we all brainstormed this morning and someone came up with an impressive suggestion: SNUGGIES!

Sleeping Bags, Cots, even Blankets are illegal in the new ordinance! But Snuggies are not mentioned at all and, so far as I know, are not considered camping paraphernalia... right? Everybody ditch your blankets, sleeping bags and tarps and we all get Snuggies!

I wonder if they come in camouflage?

Mickey made a great speech at Vineyard just before breakfast telling everyone two things: one, the Creeks are off limits! And two, don't make a mess! And she expects the homeless to do a little better job self-policing. I'd so like to see that become a reality... my only problem with this is that more than a few of these folks simply are not adults, they're children in adult bodies and discipline isn't familiar to them...

Yes, the ordinance is still very much at the forefront of conversation, and, I'm proud to tell you, the person most to blame for the existence of this ordinance, according to the scuttle butt, is none other than yours truly!

Maybe...

I dunno, I'm getting this second and third hand from a lot of people who relay what others are supposedly saying... “That MF started that MF-ing blog and now we have this MF-ing law...”

Okay, it's all my fault... I'm the one who got high off the notion of having a popular blog, I'll admit. It's been one whole heck of a lot of fun, especially the death threats, both overt and subtle. I can't tell you what a rush it is to get one... I highly recommend it! It helped me understand Adrenaline junkies...

Someone posted a note asking why I thought there were more homeless than there were in response to my last posting...

My answer was, I don't think there are more, at least not locally. I believe there are about 300 in town and that it has remained pretty static for several years. What I am seeing is a trickling in of young people, early 20s, who are homeless. Now, I don't tend to connect with the younger crowd very much. They and I don't have much to say to each other beyond “Hi” and “Bye...” Quiet Max and Firey Jessica being the exceptions... well... not really exceptions... Max is quiet, still, and Jessica is still Firey... they both seem to be doing okay at the moment, thanks for asking.

But today was a bit different. Two young women, I'll call them A and S, were telling me their personal stories this morning, or part of it, and they were both very candid about some very personal, private stuff that I should never repeat, and hopefully will slip my mind in short order. One is someone who's been around a little while and the other is more “new” to all this. What impressed me about both of them, and I hope I can relay this properly, is that both of them seem to recognize their own faults and are attempting to work around or with them... both could use some positive influence (they're sooo young!) and both of them are, it seems to me, overcoming the character flaws of their own parents.

A third young woman I know, I'll call her C, who is also very young, has given me a bit of a surprise. C isn't homeless, but had one of the most unstable times growing up I could imagine... yet she turned into this positive, industrious, well loved young woman who has a real future ahead of her complete with marriage, home and family... All that looks very much like a done deal, thought it will take a lot of work on C's part... but C has the character to meet that challenge having overcome so much more than what she's facing. A and S both seem to have similar characters and, in my opinion, could get to where C is.

To say that I worry about A and S would be an overstatement. I don't. I believe they'll do just fine in the end... but either could slide either way, as if they're sitting on a fulcrum which will determine the rest of their lives at this very moment. It could teeter for years for either or both of them without resolution... it would be pleasing to me to see someone take an interest in them, someone not from Social Services or some other tax funded group, give them a chance and be involved in their lives... and for them to accept such involvement...

I'll be seeing more cases like A and S, I'm sure... they're very different young women, save that they both are energetic and friendly... S more friendly because A is more experienced... S will probably get less so over time.

A also knows something about me... “If you write about me, I'll hurt you!” she told me this morning...

Don't be surprised if I'm typing with only my pinkies next week...