Another nasty day outside, rain, fog, the works. Thank goodness I am not leaving today. Even if I were 100 percent ready and rested, I would have found some other chores to work on to stay put for another day. I don't mind driving in the rain (in fact, I often like it better), and tolerate quite well setting up or breaking camp in the rain (tolerate, not like), but I have never started and do not wish to start a trip in the rain because of what is involved in loading the containers onto the Defender's roof rack. Because I have to empty out all the containers to get them onto the roof rack, I cannot afford to have the contents get wet. Once they are on the rack, except for the Kitchen, they stay there until the trip ends. When I need something from them, I climb up onto the rack and retrieve the items I need then.
I just returned from my morning walk with Donner on the waterfront. Sitting outside his office at Starbucks in the light drizzle reminded me of the Road. People wandering by were probably wondering how I was able to tolerate the nasty weather with such equanimity. The answer is, on the Road, sitting in the rain, drinking a cup of coffee with my dog is a small price to pay for the numerous good things that come along with that.
On my morning walks, the homeless epidemic in DC is all too obvious. Just feet from my condo's front door is a small homeless encampment which I refer to as the best homeless site in town. (As an expert in choice campsites, I know a good one when I see one.) The biggest advantage is that it is close to "work" for the hapless occupants, i.e., their panhandling stations just off the Whitehurst freeway. They rush to work early each morning to get the best spots. Over the last years, two of the homeless touched me in a way few have, and I try to be as polite with them as time permits. One gentleman named Billy has a small dog named Squirrel with whom Donner has developed a great affection for. When I saw Billy the other day without Squirrel, he told me that because of an incident he was involved in, Squirrel was taken away from him. The other person was a woman whose name I never learned. She was always clutching a little toy monkey and was always thrilled to see Donner each day, which brought her a lot of joy. I sometimes gave her a dollar wishing there was more that I could do for her. Last Wednesday when I saw her, I did not recognize her because she looked like death warmed over. After moving on a few feet, I realized it was she, but to catch the light I did not turn back to give her the dollar I otherwise would have. I was sorry that I did not take the time to go back, but I said to myself, I'll give her something tomorrow. I learned today that she was found dead in the homeless camp right outside my front door the next day. She was so quiet and polite and spent time each day tidying up the camp. I had no idea that it was she who was living in that camp across from my condo. Another one of those reminders that we all get from time to time that there may not be a tomorrow. How sad these two incidents are.
I have a very long to-do list to cover today, so I had better get started.
ED
P.S. My Microsoft Outlook is acting up. It seems that it does not send outgoing messages until it wants to, despite the settings. Another reason to dump Microsoft when I return home.
