We first lost my job, then our car and finally our home. We banged around from one place to another for some time and finally arrived at our temporary camp in the woods on Labor Day in 2013.
The site boasted a dilapidated shack made from mismatched lumber scrounged from the area, old shipping crates and pallets patched here and there with old blankets and tar paper for a roof. One couple had appointed themselves rulers and lived in their makeshift castle with a real door and a modicum of privacy. There was also an abandoned faded sun-bleached green tent, a big pile of garbage that was periodically burned as a campfire and afforded a good place to smoke dope and drink beer, a shower consisting of a water bucket hung from a tree branch encircled by plastic sheeting, a remote area with holes to squat over while defecating, an old table with a hibachi style grill for cooking and a mirror nailed to a tree trunk. A real home away from home. Even had a place to throw and save empty beer cans. For the first few days, we slept on old blankets spread on the ground. Until the rain came.
Morning came muggy, hot and overcast. A typical September day on the Gulf Coast. A very weak cool front was moving in setting off rain showers. The first warm drops hit Jim's forehead and he and Oscar huddled together under an old black umbrella someone had probably salvaged from a dumpster. When the shower passed they were a wet bedraggled pair of animals. Oscar shook himself reasonably dry while Jim decided to let the sun which just came out dry him a little bit.
In mid-afternoon Des returned from her morning errands and together they worked on clearing out the abandoned old tent of debris; trash, dirt, old empty can and bottles. It took three trips to the trash pile before it was reasonably clean and semi-livable. They took dry blankets and spread them out on the floor and an area on some boxes that provided an elevated surface.
That night they talked and slept securely under a roof. Even though it was a green canvas roof, it kept the night forest animals at bay. Also dry and protected from the occasional shower. They felt their lives were settling in and they could get started with getting back to where they were when this nightmare started. Harder for Jim not having the resilience of his youth unlike the much younger Des.
Our little dog strained at his leash watching Destiny down the lane until she disappeared among the trees. Then he lay down with his head resting on his outstretched paws, with such a downcast look that the sadness of his eyes radiated from his whole face and posture. Actually he is the perfect complement to our family. He is deeply emotional and like me wears his heart on his sleeve. But unlike me he doesn't stuff his feelings down deep in his heart. He broadcasts his feelings in everything he does. When he's happy, he literally shakes with his joy in his life. But when he's sad like now it's like his whole world is crumbling in front of him. Destiny is the world to him. He is never truly alive when she's not near him. He loves her with a passion no man could ever match.
Oscar was a dachshund. In his mind, he stood three feet tall on his short front legs. He was the most intelligent fellow I ever met. His barks were as meaningful as any human speech. Within a very short time one could learn his particular sounds. He learned our language even faster. When he stood up in alert mode, I knew that Destiny was in range of his big floppy ears. Or in range of his extrasensory perception, I never knew how or why; he just knew. When she appeared among the trees, I unsnapped his leash and watched as his little legs churned like an egg beater to get to her as fast as he cold. She laid the bags down and Oscar nosed in them until he found the promised toy or bone. He took possession and proceeded to bark out instructions and warnings. Basically he was saying " this is mine. Don't mess with it."
Finally he put the prize away somewhere and climbed back into his favorite place in the whole world, Des's lap. He'd adopted her as his mother when he was a sick, little puppy and formed a bond with her that will never be broken. They give each other pure, unconditional love. One could never ask for more.
Des pushed her shopping cart filled with empty gallon jugs to the back of the NTB store. Like most people, she hadn't known the store's actual name until Jim told her it stood for National Tire and Battery. Having worked in that industry for years, Jim knew practically all there was to know about car parts and auto stores. It's too bad he never got paid enough to get rich or get any retirement pay from the last job he held for over 26 years. The owner got rich and he got the boot. But that's life, she guessed. After filling the jugs, they pushed the carts back to just inside the woods and parked them while they walked back to the dollar store and Walmart. Cary had a food stamp card and offered to let Destiny use it and pay her back when Social Security checks came in before the first of the month. Cary had some tip money from her job and Destiny had some money from begging on the street. She had to get some cold water detergent to wash and she wanted to get something good to eat for Oscar and Jim. Jim loved chef salads and she wanted some good dog food for Oscar. He was getting too fat from all the people food he'd been eating although she couldn't resist a pint of ice cream to share with him. And some dollar packages of cookies that Jim liked and shared with Oscar. Oscar loved cookies and ice cream. Two of his favorite things. She gathered up all the goodies and she and Cary headed back to camp. She decided to wash tomorrow and just stay home with her family tonight. She got Oscar's leash and took him for his day's walk out and his run back home. Usually they went in the morning but this morning they both overslept and Des had to hurry to get to the intersection where she flew. Homeless people refer to flying as standing beside roads or traffic lights with a homemade sign asking for help.
Over the subsequent days and nights I learned more about the individuals peopling our little group. They aren't the ones I would pick as a crew but adversity makes for strange bedfellows. There is one overriding bond holding us together; Survival. All other issues become secondary to that.
Bill occasionally slept on a blanket at the camp or slept on a ledge under the intersection bridge nearby. Tim lived at his brother's house somewhere, John slept in his car and Ron usually joined Bill under the bridge. Robo lived in his brother's extra trailer some miles away. Dave joined Doug and Cary in the hut. Destiny, Oscar and me shared the green tent.
The only thing certain about any of our situations is they were subject to change at any moment. You get used to the idea of impending doom from a myriad of external forces all seeking to disrupt us. As the people in California growing complacent about the ground shaking almost daily. They expect their state to come loose and slide into the ocean at any time but they, like us, go on with their daily life in spite of such knowledge.
Speaking of daily life, Des and Cary just left camp with two Walmart shopping carts filled with empty plastic milk jugs to refill with water behind a service station. Water for the makeshift shower and to wash a few clothes at the tent. Destiny plans to do that in the morning.
Destiny brought up a large container, put in the clothes, detergent and enough water to soak them. Oscar danced around wanting to help. Unfortunately his self image is a 4 pound puppy. He can't fathom why Des can't hold him under one arm while she's washing with the other. He's finally banished from her vicinity and joins Jim sitting at the door of their tent, looking as pathetic as only he can and hoping she'll call him back out. As women have washed for centuries, she used her hands and a stout stick for an agitator. Actually she washed like women in refugee camps without running water from pipes or a flowing spring, creek or river. She might get bitten by a mosquito but at least not an alligator. When at last she poured in fresh water, rinsed them and wrung them out, she carried them to the wire and hung them to dry in the sun. At last she sat to rest, looked at Oscar and released him from exile. He sounded his thank you bark and in two bounds had landed his thirty pounds squarely in her lap. She decided to rest for awhile after she finished her cigarette. She was really tired and drifted off to sleep where she sat holding her furry baby.
Destiny threw her purse across the clearing. She was more angry than Jim had ever seen her. She needed to calm down and a cigarette would help. When she could find her voice she finally explained she had gotten a ticket from patrolman officer Travis. This policeman was well known by the people who lived around the area. The consensus was that probably he had been frightened as a child by a homeless person and it left him with a lifelong aversion to seeing them on the street. Except that now he had a gun and a badge to protect him as he set about ridding his area of such people.
Travis's MO was to issue a ticket in another precinct that would be difficult to contest without personal transportation. With the possibility of payment nonexistent a judge would issue a warrant which would show up on computers whenever a name was checked out. When a number of these misdemeanors were accumulated, the person would be taken to the city jail to stay overnight. In the morning a judge would take served time, wipe out any warrants and release them. Now the problem is getting home from across town with no money or transportation.
All of it was simple harassment of defenseless people. The city or the taxpayers incurred numerous costs for nothing except Officer Travis's vanity and personal satisfaction. I personally believe he had a sadistic nature but was too afraid of imposing his will on someone who might strike back. Destiny finally accepted it as an occupational hazard to avoid in future.
We woke this morning to the sound of saws, bulldozers and fifty foot high trees crashing to the ground. Upon learning the trees were being cleared to build a new fast food outlet. We watched heavy equipment uproot the trees and workers with chain saws denude the trunk which was cut into logs to be loaded on a truck for disposal. Yellow tape delineated the area to be cleared which didn't include our campsite but close enough to make staying too dangerous.
Several people knew of an old abandoned site not far away. Des went to check it out and we decided to move there as soon as we could. We were hastened by a constable and the landowner threatening to charge us with trespassing if we weren't gone in two days. Our displaced leaders found a semi-relative to take them in. We loaded most of our belongings into two shopping carts and were ready to go. Jim was still using a walker to support his weak legs but he pushed one of the carts.
Once out of the woods, John offered to drive us when he was able to find so jumper cables for his dead battery. A cold wind had sprung up as we finally got loaded and gone. At the new site, Robo had built a huge bonfire and helped us unload. We were grateful for the warmth as we spread blankets around for sleeping that first night.
The morning brought a welcome surprise as some church members arrived with a new tent big enough for the three of us. That afternoon Ron and Robo erected the tent where Des wanted it. Just as a light cold rain began, we lay dry under warm blankets inside our new home. We talked that night how our life had changed so fast and how we dealt with it with help from our friends, To be honest we were a little proud of ourselves.
We settled into our new site and tent. The road in was blocked to cars by several large tree trunks which we assumed were knocked down by Rita, the hurricane that came through the area lately.
Robo went home to his trailer while Ron was given a one man tent by an old friend of his. He set it up at the far side of the fire pit. Later Dave showed up with another small tent which he set up about twenty yards down the road from us. So now with the five of us our little community was complete except for occasional visitors which were welcomed but discouraged from staying very long.
With the cold wet weather came Thanksgiving and we feasted on contributions from passers by on the highway so Oscar gained another few pounds as except for his daily trip to do his thing and exercise walking with Des, the rest of the time he stayed under the covers with Jim staying warm. The days passed with Jim doing a lot of reading alone in the tent with Oscar while Des went about obtaining food and supplies for both of them.
Some city official came up with a plan or scam to sell gift bags to clueless but well meaning people to give to the homeless on the street. This plastic bag contained a tiny toothbrush and a miniscule tube of toothpaste, a bar of motel size soap and various small trinkets. All of the contents could have been purchased at a dollar store for less than ten dollars. The city sold these bags for twenty dollars. If someone with a brain had thought it through, then Jim who had no teeth would not have ended up with twenty tiny toothbrushes and tiny tubes of toothpaste.
A lot of people on the street are homeless but not really stupid. If anyone has asked, there was no need for a bag. A simple Christmas envelope containing coupons for a cold drink, a burger and fries from McDonalds or Burger King would have meant more than a dozen useless plastic bags. And no one ever admitted where the profit went.
After the new year 2014 came with a strong north wind we found out why the site was abandoned in the first place. The noisy crash of falling trees echoed this morning. It seems water damaged the lower trunks of tall trees so they could no longer support the weight, snapped off and fell. Des immediately set out to find a new site.
Des had located a stand of undisturbed trees in a section across a service road from our original section of land. With the help of friends all of our stuff was moved there included our tent parts. Jim came with his walker. He fell twice before he got there indicating his legs were weakening, a result of childhood polio. He decided it was dangerous to use the walker anymore so he was reduced to crawling if he wanted to go out.
After Des decided where she wanted the tent placed, it was erected on a rise along the clearing edge and Jim and Oscar moved in. Ron pitched his tent in a small clearing many yards downhill from us. Robo was evicted from his trailer home, obtained a tent and set up a distance opposite from us and Ron so our lives picked up where we were before the move and continued for a time.
The morning quiet was broken by Oscar's strident bark of danger outside. Officer Travis had found us and came with a number of cops to harass us once again. Des was handcuffed on the ground and Jim ordered to crawl out holding Oscar by his collar as he was all in attack mode. He slipped out of his collar and made straight for Des on the ground ready to defend her at any cost. Des calmed him some and ordered him back to Jim. For once he minded her and returned to defending Jim who held him bodily to keep him from attacking anyone who came close. All the while barking out threats and warnings at full volume. A Dachshund behind a door sounds a lot like a two hundred pound Mastiff.
At last after finding no drugs or anything illegal they went away berating Travis for this wild goose chase. Both of us were rightly proud of Oscar's defense and defiance of a threat to his family. Once we were settled in a very light sprinkle wet the dirt outside. A harbinger of Spring weather with more to come.
With spring came warmer weather and more moisture from the Gulf. Sporadic weak fronts moved through producing more and heaver rain with the impetus from climate change. For the most part we were protected by our tent even though the zipper on our door was broken. Zippers on tent doors are their weakest point. They are fine for occasional campouts but fail after several weeks of daily use. All homeless people know this and plan for it.
Des went out rain or shine to feed Jim and Oscar. Oscar went outside to do his business as usual and had to forego his daily walk often. Until a week the area received over six inches of rain from skies laden with more. Jim was first to notice when he felt he was floating. Daylight showed he was actually floating on the tent floor where water had entered under their tent. Looking out they saw the area was covered with several inches of flood water and rising.
Des braved the water and obtained two raised cots for sleeping above the tent floor where the water was slowly getting in. And the rain continued to fall and the flood water grew deeper and wider. Oscar was hurting but refused to go inside or go out. Des finally took him out to higher ground to relieve himself. His training and his dachshund stubbornness wouldn't allow him to do anything else.
Like a gift from heaven which we believed it was a check came and Des was able to buy a new and larger tent and located really high ground. Robo and Ron cleared a path up and erected our new home. Des carried Oscar up but Jim had a problem not being able to walk. He made it to his wheelchair and propelled himself backward through the water trying to reach the path up at the waters edge. He hit an underwater snag and ended up falling out of the chair so he half paddled and crawled through to the path. He crawled through the muddy and dry patches until he nearly reached the top where he met Des coming to help him out of the tent. She as amazed at what he managed on his own and he was proud of himself.
Both Ron and Robo were invited to sleep in the big tent since their sites were also underwater but they declined so it was again just the three of us which we were all thankful for.
The sporadic rains continued for a time as Spring came to a close. Robo had taken a tarp that had covered our flooded tent and constructed a canopy that kept the rain away from our front door and created a dry area to sit outside even it was raining. Robo was a strange duck. He could be your best friend one day and turn into your worst affliction depending on his alcohol intake and his immersion in his own delusions. He cleaned up his flooded area and continued living close by. Ron, on the other hand entered an extended rehab program and was seen no more.
We were wakened every morning by a pair of Cardinals talking to each other as the male checked the area for predators before giving his mate a tweet that it was ok for her to come down. She came and sat on a twig in some low bushes. He went down on the ground and looked over the food Des had left out for them last night. He finally selected a choice morsel and flew up to her and passed it from his beak to hers. He repeated this numerous times until she was satisfied, then he made one more trip to eat himself. Seeing this act of love between two birds set the tone for the rest of the day.
Finally a flock of Blue Jays arrived and their noisy and raucous chatter caused every animal or bird left to disappear.
Oscar had been up for some time urging Des to get dressed and get started with their morning walk. As soon as the door was unzipped he bolted for the path. Des had to call him to stop and come back for his leash. He came shaking with anticipation as his leash was attached and they set off down the trail. Halfway to their destination they had to cross a street. She had to stop Oscar once to be careful and showing his intelligence and understanding, the next time he stopped and looked for traffic on his own before crossing. At last they came to the Walmart store where his friends worked. He gave out his loudest arrival bark that was heard all through the store. Workers came out and greeted him every morning and looked forward to meeting him. It seemed he made a new friend every time he came out and he recognized every one of them and shook with excitement whenever he saw someone he knew. At last they headed home and crossed an empty field before the woods. After entering the field Des removed his leash and said run Oscar, run like the wind. He joyously obeyed and left as fast as he could go, across the field, up the service road to the opening in the bushes that led to the path home, jumped a log across the trail and entered the path up the hill. Jim could see him coming at least sixty feet away, ears flapping like a bird's wings about to take off. He slid to a stop under the canopy waiting for Des to give him breakfast.
All too soon as it does for all of God's creatures, age crept up on him. His joyful prancing around Des became a painful walk. At last God in his mercy called him home. He lay beside Jim and with the last of his strength crawled to Des and took his last breath with her hands holding him. Jim and Des cried the rest of that terrible night. The next day or so, Des helped with his burial and decorated his grave. We tried to go on with life but the impetus wasn't there any more, We realized more and more that Oscar had been the glue that held everything together. Jim's health was failing as was Des's. We had to make some hard decisions sooner rather than later.
Jim
Jim finally made the decision he could no longer abide Des having to support both of them being in poor health herself from sheer exhaustion and a recurrence of the arthritis that afflicted her spine and hips. Leaving in the only way possible now, he crawled down the path, past the old tent and seeing the snag that had dumped him into the flood water so many months ago. Over the big log, through the brush and out to the service road. A light rain began falling and he was thankful he had wrapped his personal effects in layers of plastic sheeting. He was short of breath and his chest was hurting as he crawled a few feet, stopped to get his breath and resumed crawling a few more feet. He finally reached the last obstacle before the open field, a 12 foot wide mud covered construction road. slogging through was the only way over. He finally reached the open field in sight of a strip center and by shouting and waving from his knees was able to attract one of the workers who had met and recognized him and called 911 for an ambulance. He was loaded and taken to the emergency ward of a nearby hospital. He was diagnosed with pneumonia, a flare up of his copd, exhaustion and dehydration. He was admitted and spent over three weeks fighting to regain control. He was transferred to a rehab center where he spent three weeks gaining strength and learning to use his new wheelchair. Then he found a personal care home, moved there and lived in a room up to now.
Destiny
She had gained so much self-confidence and self-reliance over these months as well as freedom that now she opted to refuse going to some shelter or home but stay in the woods in a smaller tent across the highway. A social worker helped her get her Social Security Disability, Medicare and Medicaid reinstated now that we no longer lived together. She and Jim kept track of each other through their son now working his way through college in another city. Once they settled they began talking regularly over the phone. Her mother passed away this year and she moved out of her tent and into the place her mother had occupied. They talk every day, see each other as often as possible and will always occupy a special place in each others heart.
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