Saturday September 15 – Clouds Clearing

Saturday September 15 – Clouds Clearing


I am watching the sky. The clouds are clearing, moving east by south east. And the short end of a rainbow appears out of the bottom of some particularly ominous bunch of clouds. And the clouds reclaim that far away corner and the rainbow disappears. And I look up, nearer and a goddess is stretched out lying on her side. And a face appears and within a minute or two fades into a blur and then nothing. But for now the sky is clearing and all that remains are the high wisps someplace in the stratosphere, and the contrails of passing jets, now far gone. But in the distance, to the west something dark is appearing.

A man approaches me, obviously a more “experienced” homeless sort, a “pro”. He asks if he can read some scripture to me, “No”, I reply, “I’d rather you didn’t.” He says “OK” and turns around to go back down the steps that are on the front of the hill, and then turns around and asks if it is alright if he camps up here. “Sure” I reply, “The cops don’t seem to bother us up here.” He thanks me and makes himself comfortable at the other side of this mesa.

At the same time a woman I had seen numerous times at the ARCH walks by with a male friend. She waves and we exchange a few courteous words. She is pretty, but very street hardened, tougher than me, I’m sure.

The clouds to the west are breaking up, dark but no longer threatening.

A new couple has made their way to my hill. They are at the far back corner. And the parking lot has yet to fill and the bands to play, but I can see the stars again. “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight …” It’s become like a prayer, focusing my attention … and you can guess the wish. My lady and I believe in each other. And possibly we see something in the other that we are unable to recognize ourselves. Our lives are open to whatever possibilities and difficulties arise. We will have each other. … But, it seems to be working, and who am I to argue when things are going well.

I met the couple who just arrived, Dan and Wendy, second day being homeless. They are around my age (late fifties) and from Illinois. My God, I feel like I’ve located a couple more “normal” human beings. I was able to give them a few pointers about life on the streets here. I’m sure if they are around for any length of time we will develop close ties.

… It’s 2:19 A.M. … the bars are closing … the Lone Star has fallen … blue belles are squatting … does anyone know where we parked the car?

Sunday September 16

It began raining at 10 a.m. and continued all day long. I sat on the porch of the condemned house keeping myself half hidden behind one of the brick pillars. A neighbor, a guy who uses the vacant lot across the street decided to join me but didn’t try to conceal his presence. He sat openly and defiantly on the porch, leaning against the wall, reading his book. He is a nice enough guy, from Montana, but a braggart, and hates blacks. The desire and ability to attempt to understand seem to evade him. After a short while the police cruise by and from their car, tell us to move on. We go our separate ways.

A short walk up the hill I stood in a doorway that is infrequently used. It could be satisfactory if only there were something to sit on, a milk crate or a five gallon bucket. The ground below is wet so sitting on it is out of the question. The rain is “On again. Off again” so I wandered to check out other locations. I found myself under a tree in the lot across from the ARCH and sat for a while. Everything is damp, my feet are wet, but my pants and upper body are dry. The leather jacket I wear is proving to be one of my better investments. The rain picks up again, when will it ever stop? Eventually it slows and I walk back to my hill. There is no place dry and the humidity in the air precludes the idea of anything drying soon.

To the east, at the same place I saw the end of a rainbow, another appears. It is still raining lightly. I am about to leave and glance to my left and into the sky. My god, I can follow the length of the rainbow from the northeast corner of Austin to the south east portion that had only been visible just a few minutes prior. It really is a magnificent sight.

The Rain finally subsides.

Dan and Wendy make their way back up to the hill around 11 P.M.. They had been sitting on the pad under the awning at the ARCH when they were finally asked to leave. No one is supposed to be there after 6: P.M., but the ARCH is not hard about enforcing the rules, especially during inclement weather.

It had stopped raining but a dry spot was not to be found. But Dan and Wendy had got a trash bag from the ARCH which they cut open to put on the ground under their sleeping blankets and could be comfortable enough. I found some large pieces of cardboard that someone had hid in the bushes and Dan lent me a quilted blanket to use for padding. It was damp, but better than sleeping on the bare ground.

“I was fortunate enough to go to Woodstock”, the words just came out of my mouth. “This reminds me of that.” Wendy looked perplexed; Dan threw his hands up in the air and laughed. “Lots of rain.” … “Yep” … But it was more than that. The night went without more rain.