Too bumpy!

Yay! Hope!

Homelessness has only gotten worse for several reasons. In my opinion, based on the ones I often see and occasionally speak with, the biggest problem is how easy it is to get free stuff. In the summer they are all over, and many want to avoid having a job... Just dumpster dive, panhandle, homeless shelter, buy a cheap tent with what they get on the street corner and use the rest to get stoned or drunk or both. Some of the ones I have interacted with did not want help finding a job. "Jus' wanna be free man! So don't bother me!"

Also gov. subsidized housing turns into a horrible ghetto rife with gangs and drugs and some want out of that. Others have mental problems. Some of them are mad at the world and anyone they meet. Some just are in between jobs because their business got closed due to high taxes, higher cost of materials, higher cost of required health insurance coverage, etc. Those are the ones I feel sorry for.

In college, I was homeless for a while, hundreds of miles from anyone I knew. Starving, could not afford to buy a comb for my stringy hair. It is a tough life till that first paycheck comes in, and if you are lucky enough to be paid weekly, it is nice. I starved for a month. Slept under seating of a practice football stadium.

Hunger is a great motivator. As the US National Parks always say "Don't feed the bears!" It gets them used to being fed stuff that is not healthy, makes them used to people so they are more dangerous not being afraid of people. Homelessness is similar. Get rid of the just plain lazy and the numbers will thin out enough that the few who want the freedom can do so.

Lots more to the problem, of course, but just giving stuff away is really doing them a disservice.
The old saying---
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

Teach, don't just give.

I’m glad I already read the book and know Dea is ok. It was an awful, unfortunate eye event. Still enjoying your adventures the for second time. Thanks for posting them.

Hope !

So heartwarming considering the unfortunate plight of Dea’s ordeal! And the little vase of flowers..❤️

Thank goodness! There are too many things that happen when we are living our life that cannot always be explained or fixed! Glad Dea’s is an exception with good results!
Thank you for letting me know!

Hi Karen, I don’t want to spoil the story, but she is lying on the sofa next to me reading a book with her very fine and beautiful eyes.

I just read your post. It is now a full 8 years later.. What happened to Dea?

Awww... so cute!!

I didn't follow you on that other site, so this has been all new to me. Sad to see this journal come to an end. But at least the ending was happy!

It was good following along again... "The second time around,"

Whar a fabulous journey - your journal has been a must-read for so many months!

I loved to follow you and Dea all the way to the end. Thanks so much for sharing this epic journey with us.

The tide is definitely out!