Love in the Time of Covid19.

Dear Anonymous,

In an informal way of accessing, meaning there's no science or data to my observation, it seems that it's not real clear out here about the virus. Handwashing hygiene is understood and shrugged off by many. Difficult to comply for many. City ordinances regarding gathering seem vaguely understood. Conspiracy theories abound. Incomplete information circulating. High drama and dismissal of risk...both evidenced.
Another threat. Another stress. Another difficulty. Rumor and policy mix and mash.
And I wonder how we help. Coffee card and socks handed out today at arms length with gloves, which felt right and awful and not enough.
Will continue as if I am a carrier which means I'll need to consider for a bit. Unchartered territory.
Love in the Time of Covid19.

How can I walk by without loving what will be?

Dear Anonymous,
Our friend Tyler showed up briefly yesterday morning. It's a difficult and uncertain time and that is not making the streets any more stable. I worry there will be many more out here before this is all over.
He smiles. Allows me to see him and I remember Alden Andrews commenting on photos of folks on the street on not so good days. He said 'THAT WAS ME.' remarking on his own mighty struggles.
Alden passed away tragically this weekend, the result of profound injuries from a hit and run accident.

After surviving heroin addiction.

That beautiful young man who rose like a phoenix from a pile of ashes was able to build a life with people he loved, in community, with his child and family. No more street.
That beautiful man related to another young man, miserable on the street and said 'THAT'S ME.' identifying in those words the spectrum of his own path.
So, how can I walk by without loving what will be?

Thank you Dear Anonymous.

Sometimes I feel like I am walking onto a Shakespearian performance during some late act in a play I don't really know the details of and didn't quite realize I'd be attending.

Dear Anonymous,
Sometimes I feel like I am walking onto a Shakespearian performance during some late act in a play I don't really know the details of and didn't quite realize I'd be attending.
There will tears. And tragic laughter. There will be love.
And loss.The great human dilemnas will make cameo appearances.
My own reason and logic do not apply here in the plot. There are sinister factors and conspiracies I could not imagine. No one is safe, I am told. And this is the habit of thinking. Sometimes I am challenged to keep my nose just clear of the sanity line as I listen.
A run in with the police. He says he has no idea why. Therefore he feels it is most unjust. Compellingly unjust.
I have absolutely no idea. I never will.
Still, there is a coffee card and socks.
Thank you Dear Anonymous.

It's a wonky world and the street this morning reflected the wonkiness.

Dear Anonymous,
It's a wonky world and the street this morning reflected the wonkiness. An overdose by a young man I don't know well. He survived. The police none too happy when I tried to see who it was. I can say they did great job at securing his privacy and anonymity, maybe less a great job at public relations.
The Reader, a man we know out here living on the streets who is also a voracious reader, had his bicycle hit by a truck when it was parked and locked at a telephone pole. Super glad he wasn’t ON it.
Everybody a bit edgy.
Coffee cards and loving admonishments 'to wash your hands.'
They are doing elbow taps and not handshakes.
The virus another stressor. ANOTHER inconvenience. ANOTHER thing to deal with.
And still there was love. Each of them signing off this morning with 'Love ya'.'
That hasn't been cancelled.

A smile like this. Bigger than anything that has happened to her out here.

Dear Anonymous,

A smile like this. Bigger than anything that has happened to her out here. And more beautiful. Don’t know how she does it.

Thank you Dear Anonymous, for not looking away. For sharing a resource. For helping to carve a moment in a tough day where things are likely not going to go well where things are ok for a fragile moment.

Her Painters' Hands

Her Painters' Hands

Any artist I know will likely see these hands and smile a smile of some sort of satisfaction.

Dear Anonymous,

Any artist I know will likely see these hands and smile a smile of some sort of satisfaction.
She is once again without anything. Everything lost. Everything stolen. Has court in a couple of hours and is freezing but she is smiling.
Her hands covered in paint, her eyes wild with excitement .
'I'm painting! We're working on a mural! Hope they don't steal our supplies...we're usin' anything we can find. Chalk, paint, pastels.'
She is animated and her face shines, her eyes twinkle as she describes talking about the images of waves and water and flowers in a beautiful interpretive dance on the city sidewalk.
She gathers a couple pair of pants (thank you Dear Anonymous) a clean shirt and a coffee card to settle herself before court.
But she can't wait to get back to that wall.
The creative spirit needing to be fed.

A customer at the coffee shop, a regular, says to Mike, 'I know the solution to homelessness. A pine box.'

Dear Anonymous,

A customer at the coffee shop, a regular, says to Mike,
'I know the solution to homelessness.
A pine box.'
I imagine being on the sidewalk and being told the solution to my problem is my death.

Another regular customer walks over to my car and quietly hands me $100 with no fanfare for coffee cards and thanks Dear Anonymous. Thank YOU Dear Anonymous.

Meanwhile Mike was offered a job too good to be true yesterday and is trying to gauge his excitement against the risk of disappointment.
Knowing that something that seems too good to be true is often too good to be true.
His hat today gets my attention. A hat with good boundaries.

A Dear Anonymous sent a box of hand warmers, and on this cold morning they were deeply appreciated. Thick warm socks were too. An additional layer of fleece, or a sweatshirt....maybe a clean pair of pants. A hot cup of coffee. A moment at least off the street to settle down. Quiet down. Thanks everyone.