Day 8 of Homelessness

At left, Ted and Dave shortly before the rain began in earnest.

Last night I met Dave at a drinking establishment around 9:30. He was eating dinner but I had already eaten. Around 11:00, we walked off to make camp but ended up at a completely new campsite with great cover. Shortly after we set up, the rain began, and it seemed to never stop. While the tent protected us from getting soaked, it was a loud, soggy night and neither of us got more than four hours sleep. Not sure exactly why I couldn’t sleep. We arose at 7:30, broke camp, and I biked off to work.

I just put on completely clean clothes for the first time since this began. I’m doing my laundry at work where we have a machine to wash the donated clothing we receive before we give it away. I never thought I’d get such pleasure and feeling of normalcy from laundry.

Tonight, the weather should be much better. I’m camping with a few of the Colorado Vincentian Volunteers, one of whom works at Senior Support as a case manager. We're meeting at a restaurant close to the campsite and the prospect of walking in with clean clothes on is comforting, though I’ll still have my backpack, the telltale sign.