When I show up this morning Mike runs over to tell me about the woman inside the coffee shop.

Dear Anonymous,

When I show up this morning Mike runs over to tell me about the woman inside the coffee shop. He is a little agitated. Upset about it.
Mike says:
'She was out here cryin', like really cryin' before they opened. She was so cold. So I was about to hand her my blanket and she said 'I can give you a blow job if I can have that blanket.'
I was like 'TAKE the blanket. We're all set.' So, please, can we please set her up with some stuff? I mean imagine the life she's leading that she thought she had to do that to get a blanket?'

We pack a backpack (thank you #maggiesmission) with new socks, a coat, personal hygiene products, hand warmers. A coffee card. Mike hands it to her. No strings attached.

She sits quietly by herself inside. All the guys giving her space. She has the new coat on her lap and wrapped around her legs. She is sipping a hot drink. A hand on the shoulder and 'You all set?' and she looks up fragile and translucent. Broken and crystal clear all at once. and she manages a sweet smile and an airy 'Thank you.'
Thank you Dear Anonymous. You think a coffee card can't save a life?

My car appears to have been hit with a spaghetti bomb.

Dear Anonymous,
My car appears to have been hit with a spaghetti bomb. There are strands of noodles and pockmarks of red sauce all over it.
This man shows up, and it is his way to move from tragic weeping to gregarious laughter; from being upright pushing his cart down the street to being on his back kicking his legs and arms up into the sky.
I find him spitting on my car.
Trying to remove the spaghetti splatters. He throws his lighter aside. Takes a drag from his cigarette and spits again. Then scrapes the car gently. He kneels down to get closer. I think he's got a future in detailing. He continues to spit and scrape successfully removing the mess. He wants to clean it for me.There is something devotional in his posture and his manner. He goes on to weep about his girlfriend with MS. He flushes with anger.
Then he softens and says 'It's love. And knowledge, this is.' as he continues to pick at the mess. Then he hesitates and says
'It's love.'
and rubs away the last of the stain.

The streets are full of despair. And... THIS.

Dear Anonymous,
The streets are full of despair. And... THIS. Two men who met on the floor of the shelter, sleeping within an inch of one another years ago. Ready to kill one another as the flailed about in their sleep. Two men I would NOT want to mess with. They are reminiscing this morning over their less than auspicious meeting...and about their enduring friendship.
Respect. Decency. Brotherly love. You name it. It was in the air.
Mike's friend? He will only take what he needs. No more. In his rich baritone voice says, when I offer him new socks: 'No, no,no,no. We need to leave this for the rest of the community who needs it more.'

Is this not the blessing I had always wanted?

Dear Anonymous,
He has been waiting this morning. Grateful for a coffee card. Excited for some clothing that fit. And he watches as folks come and go.
And then, quietly, almost a whisper says to me
'Ya' know , if you wanna' take a picture of me you can.'
Only he asks it like a question. Like maybe he doesn't know that this is my deepest honor and that when I see him framed up in the viewfinder I kinda' choke up. And then he smiles. Like this.
Is this not the blessing I had always wanted?

Mike is set up with a wheelie bag (thank you #maggiesmission) filled with toys and kids' backpacks to hand out at the shelter.

Dear Anonymous,
Mike is set up with a wheelie bag (thank you #maggiesmission) filled with toys and kids' backpacks to hand out at the shelter. He tells me he is going to try and get some photos of the kids receiving the toys, with permission. He has already asked and is aware that some families do not wish to be photographed.
He was soooo excited.
We've been trying to get dolls of color and dolls of women in careers. This one is a National Geographic explorer.
Hard to tell on this exchange who is happier. The kids? Mike? Me? Us? Dear anonymous's? A win-win-win-win-win.
There is a sub story here about the friction, at times, between the local homeless and the immigrant population. About race.
Enough to say that it's a big healing and profoundly unexpected gift for Mike, now Uncle Mikey, to hand a young black girl from Somalia a dark skinned Barbie doll. And everyone...EVERYONE...is smiling. This is a dream of Mike's. Thank you for helping make it happen.

Our buddy, Tyler. Looking fine. Upright. Polite.

Our buddy, Tyler. Looking fine. Upright. Polite. Still in his own apartment. Paying rent. A relief. Congratulations, Tyler.
And thank you Dear Anonymous for help with coffee cards and socks.

Across the Impossible Gradient

Across the Impossible Gradient

The Inimitable Mill Whisperer, Amy Stacey Curtis. Artist extraordinaire.

The Inimitable Mill Whisperer, Amy Stacey Curtis.

Artist extraordinaire.

Kick ball. Kisses. Basilica.

Kick ball. Kisses. Basilica.

Enjoy scallops? Here's a boat geared up at 5 AM. I can never, ever complain of the price of seafood.

Enjoy scallops? Here's a boat geared up at 5 AM. I can never, ever complain of the price of seafood. 

And this terrific employee?

And this terrific employee? Shows up this morning at 0 degrees after stepping on a nail at the job site yesterday.
Went right through the bottom of her construction boot into her foot. She followed protocol to a T, got medical assistance and here she is this morning having never missed a beat.
Her comment: 'We need steel SOLED boots, not just steel TOED boots!'
A+ attitude.

My wander.

My wander. 

It was THAT cold.

It was THAT cold.

Sea Smoke Above Mussel Cove.

Sea Smoke Above Mussel Cove.

That conversation.

That conversation.

On this given day

On this given day

The Band

The Band

O, O, O, Oaxaca.

O, O, O, Oaxaca.

Delivery at the meat market. Before he yelled at me and before he passed his hand lovingly over the photo I hand him.

Delivery at the meat market. Before he yelled at me and before he passed his hand lovingly over the photo I hand him.

Planning on a delivery of toys to the family shelter on Saturday.

Dear Anonymous,
Planning on a delivery of toys to the family shelter on Saturday.
He shares,'The kids call me 'Uncle Mikey'. I asked the kids if I should deliver to a few of them or wait 'til the weekend when all the kids are there. They told me 'When ALL the kids are here!' That's what these little kids told me. When they are all there. So, I'm gonna listen to them.I told the parents who are all 'Gimme gimme gimme ‘ that it's 'Please may I....' and it's 'Thank you.' around here.'
A little bit of a prayer and blessing right there.
I little bit of the saint and sinner rubbing elbows within each of us.