Holidays 2019

Holiday Blends...

Another Day on the Street

Holidays.... Another season of Hope underway as my 20^th Holiday

and Winter Season is rolling in. So many Blessings and much

to be Grateful for, along with devastating blows to contend with.

But the Holidays are really not a favorite time for me, not anymore.

Haven't been for a long time. Having no place to go, and

no one to share the days with, just fills my heart and soul

with a deeper emptiness left vacant and hollow.

As the air becomes Festive and Vibrant, and while the

Scents of Fall filling our lungs with the Sweet Warmth

of Spices, Baking and cooking, the Holidays brings

duality along with it. Living on the streets,

you only experience the Holidays through the

looking glass from the outside, not involved in or

immersed through it.

Breathing in The Crisp, Sweet air of the mornings and

evenings are one of the Best feelings, adding a

sense of excitement of Beauty yet to come.

Well, the air used to be Sweet and Crisp, now

reeks of Pot fumes at every turn, the Hint of

the sweet, clean, crisp air is still present.

But having to face and spend yet another Holiday and

Winter Season without a home and literally on the cold, harshness

of the streets, brings the reality of it smashing in my face.

So along with the Blessings I have and all I have

to be Grateful for, it collides in opposition to

living on the streets and all the challenges that

alone brings. The list of challenges a

physically challenged female having to

live every moment on the street nearly mutes

all the good; But being In Nature and Living every

moment in NATURE, brings beauty to my heart

and eyes as I breathe and experience all Nature

offers. With a front row seat to the colors blooming and

shedding, all the animals singing their songs, and

communicating with each other and everyone around,

with the background sounds of the traffic that tries to

mute the Nature Effect, and does diminish the

experience and feel of being IN nature, but cannot completely

overshadow it. Beauty will find its way through.

Like a single flower will push through the most barren

landscape to bring Hope and Beauty.

Holidays on the streets are like that single flower,

Hope and Beauty filters through on occasion.

No, it is not there every moment, but it does come

through and when it does and the light captures

your heart in those moments, the shroud of

smothering darkness lessens.

Holidays on the Street are not steeped in traditions, other than

the ones you create... mine, I usually have a good stack of

Books, which I take to the park and spend the day

reading and writing, meditating, and walking in Nature, unless

I am able to find some place in need of volunteers.

Holiday air takes on a different feel, where it becomes

electric and vibrates with its own heartbeat

pulsing with excitement. Where the Air becomes

Alive with Promise, and Hope...

December is the most invigorating month of the entire

year. The air is sweeter, brighter, crisp and filled with Sparks

of Hope, Light and Love that bring the feeling that Anything and

everything is not only possible, but the endless

possibilities that fill every thought, deed and action

arise and take hold of your heart, where Faith

takes flight and directs your every move.

Holidays 2019

Thanksgiving... Life on the Streets 2019

Gratitude... A Life on the Streets

Thanksgiving 2019

And the tradition continues.... another day of a life

on the street for another Thanksgiving.

Spending the day with a stack of books, unless I am

able to find some place to Volunteer, but this is the time of year

that is overflowing with volunteers making up for the rest

of the year of them letting it go by the wayside

, so if I cannot find a plce to volunteer (which is something I have

done throughout my life, not just the decades outside and through the

Holidays, as well, if help is needed and not filled) reading

in the park, walking through and in Nature and counting my Blessings.

A tradition I never once dreamed would be my life, of

living on the streets, has become my very existence.

But counting my Blessings has become a staple of life,

every moment of it. Reading in the park on the Holidays is

another tradition, because everything is closed, volunteering is

over-filled, and I have nowhere or place to go or be...

so reading makes the time go by quickly, and I

do not have to think about life.

Just take in the smells, listen to nature's orchestra

and feel grateful just to BE in the moment,

surrounded by the Beauty of Nature and all

Her Gifts the animals bring to my heart.

I have much to be Grateful for, which I

keep having to redirect my focus on, otherwise,

life takes hold and reality smashes into

my face and the circumstance I have been

forced to endure decade after decade.

Some things I am Grateful for;

- Having access to clean water to drink
- Having access to restrooms to cleanup in, change and 
wash my hair in the icy cold water from the sink
- Being literate and able to read and write with proficiency
- Having the means to do laundry when I need to
- Having clothes to wear
- Having a body that continues to hold me up
- Having many in Law Enforcement on my side
- Receiving Help that have been treasured gifts
- Being able to Communicate in a variety of ways
- Having a good, portable toothbrush
- Being able to make great coffee without a coffeemaker
- Being able to volunteer to work with animals

These are just a few things I am deeply, truly Grateful for.

Many other things come to mind of what I am Grateful

for. And I count Blessing after Blessing throughout the day

and it keeps me pressing on to face another day without

a home. But Purpose and Meaning have Eclipsed my life.

What are the lessons I am supposed to learn being

forced to live outside, without a home, indefinitely?

Whatever the lessons are suppose to be,

it is not something I have been able to cull

from. How do you draw a meaningful and

purposeful life when you are forced into a

circumstance not of your choosing and

you lose youself in the process?

And while I will never be Grateful for being forced from my home

by and through the illegal actions of a despicable landlord,

living on the streets teaches you about Life in the very

literal sense;

You learn how to be resilent and how to use what you have

all around you, while improvising every moment of every day and

all through the night. Street life teaches you how to persevre

through the worst (of) what life throws at you, and all you experience

and face with life without the comfort and security of a home.

There is no way to prepare for and nothing prepares you

for street life, even when fully immersed in it.

But the Gratitude stems from what I have learned

and how to become while living on the street;

The strength that has come forth that I never knew

was there, learning how to quickly adapt to

anything and everything that comes my way, or I am

forced to endure, how to let go and move on and

keep moving forward.

The Tradtion now unfolding and becoming the staple

of life... is how to live when you merely exist, while

around the Fringes of Life itself.Every moment of

every day, Each and every Holiday and Winter, Summer,

Spring and Fall. A Tradition that is a

Century in the Making.

Another Thanksgiving steeped in the

Non-Traditional specs of Street life.

Thanksgiving Blessings.