A New Year... 2020

A New Year.... on the Streets

2020

As the New Year unfolds, it becomes a first of many.....

A New Beginning, the First Day of the New Year, of a New Month,

and of the next Decade. It closes out one decade and begins a new one.

Shutting the door to the worst years.

As 2019 comes to a close and another year about to begin...

this past year has truly been a mixed bag of blessings, challenges and

unimagined hardship. Just as Hope was fading and diminishing

to the brink of being non-existent, blessings come at just the precise

moment when all hope was lost. Bringing a renewed strength of Faith,

and Hope to my life in a cycle of infused love for humanity....

as the door closes on one year and opening to the next one...

I have much to be grateful for.

                     - Met a couple of amazing people who blessed me in immeasurable ways,

                        just by being who they were as people, and whom I would have never                                            encountered had I not been in my circumstance

                     - I have clothes to wear to keep me warm

                     - I was able to get a new pair of shoes to replace the ones

                       that could no longer be held together

                     - I was able to get most of the necessities I needed

                     - I have public restrooms to use to take care of my personal needs

                     - I am no longer harassed nearly as much by Law Enforcement

                     - I am surrounded by Nature and Her Wonders every moment and 

                       witness to the most amazing orchestra

2020.... A Beginning for The Promise of a Better Future.

The first thing that number, 2020, brings to mind is the

News Program, 2020 followed by Dateline.

These programs used to be Staples in our home, the Segments that

brought Truth and Justice to light, when reporters reported what was real,

instead of told what to report, or how. Something we need more of in this world.

And perhaps with the New Year Beginning, It will open the path to

a great new Beginning in all regards, and for the door to 2019,

one of the WORST years I have ever experienced,

to be closed for good. And one I never wish to re-visit.

This is my 20^th New Year I have experienced on the streets, and remain

in the same circumstance, regardless of what I do, or where I go. That

covers a LOT of History... 9/11, the Deadliest Wild Fires in California

History; The Camp Fire, the Tubbs Fire, The Cedar Fire,

The Woolsey Fire, The Carr Fire, The Thomas Fire just to name a few.

Among some of the history since I have been forced to live my life

outside, on the streets, are devasting Natural Disasters that have consumed

thousands of lives; the 2004 and 2005 Tsumanis and Earthquakes, with

devastating Floods and Droughts. There is so much more.

Experiencing and living through Twenty full Winter and Holiday Seasons

outside. Seeing 20 full New Years begin and end. Seasons of Hope blended

and mixed with the deepest emptiness that has drained me on levels I never 
knew existed. Experiences that could fill volumes, and stuff libraries...

So I really hold no illusion of what life holds for the future...

Street life has consumed my entire existence.

While the New Year holds Promise of what is yet to be,

I cannot summon the excitement or spirit of Life...

Being Homeless is like living in a drought through winter

in terms of finding food or shelter, while having to contend with

the worst extremes of weather; heavy rains, high winds and ugly storms

ripping through not only the lands, but through your soul, as well.

Another New Year come to pass with the barest existence of

life on the streets.

New Year's Day, a New Beginning, or a Contiuation

of a Nightmare I can never wake from?