Well, I woke this morning feeling better than I did when I went to bed. I was raring to go drive Mary to her appointment but at the last moment
Bill decided to take her himself so I didn't get the chance to travel to Golden and walk down memory lane. Oh, probably for the best anyway.
Donna just informed me that the Chamber of Commerce Mixer is tonight at 5pm. I had earlier confirmed that I was attending the regular supper at the Blackwells. So, I cancelled to attend the mixer and mix with the movers and the shakers of Idaho Springs.
Anytime I can go out with Donna I will! She's very good for my spirits, always positive, upbeat and so on.
In the 10 months I have occupied Idaho Springs I have met people from all strata of society here from desperate drug addicts and prostitutes to multimillionaires to the clergy and everybody in between.
Events like these Mixers gives me the chance to meet the business leaders, opinion leaders and small time politicos and talk about my journey and about God etc.
I do not confront people or put them on the spot. I introduce myself and quite naturally the conversation goes to what we do, job wise; then I tell them what I do, then inevitably,the follow-up questions like why are doing this kinda work and what led you to hit the road, those type of questions arise quite naturally. That is my witness.
Conversed with Jonas one of homeless kids hanging around the Frothy Cup. I bought a couple of tobacco pipes from him a while ago for $10 for the both of them only to find out one of them is worth $50-75. Yay! Told him if I sell it I'll split it with him.
Jonas is in his 20s and is a self proclaimed expert in computer repair. His minimalist, homeless lifestyle is partly as a result of choice and partly by bad circumstances.
He would need a vehicle, wardrobe and many other trappings of corporate life just for the chance at an interview. He cannot get help from his parents due to his estrangement from them.
I tell him, "stay upbeat and to start low by taking a bussing job over at Beaujos Pizza and save up as much as you can to purchase a cheap used car. Then clean yourself up, cut your hair and buy a set of business casual wear. Then interview, interview and interview as much as you can."
He wants to do all that but I can tell he doesn't fit in with the business office culture. He's brooding, sulking and intimidating with large bushy eyebrows, his large knife sheathed to his side and a hatchet hanging precariously on his belt, wearing a long olive green duster topped off with Nazi looking military boots.
I'm amazed that kids his age have never held a steady job or a started a career or even attended college. I didn't get these countercultural ideas like intentional homelessness, dying to self, compassion for one's fellowman, etc until my mid 50s.
I wished I had experienced this conversion earlier in life. I would doubtless made better life choices. But, the timing must have been right for me nonetheless.
I never would have guessed that simply walking from Illinois to Colorado would have effected as much change in me as it has. It's the whole vagabond, itinerant style of living that put me in touch with the Almighty in such a way that I recognized that I was living a shallow life, even a hypocritical one. I acknowledged biblical truth and practice but really didn't take it seriously enough for it to impact my life or the lives around me.
Life for me used to be all about making a living, securing food and housing, staying alive and that's about it. Life for me now is much fuller, less scrappy and more challenging in a purposeful way. I'm now dealing with my demons and my failings instead of hand wringing and blaming my childhood rearing and others who came into my life at various intermissions.
Anyway, tomorrow, Lord willing, I will be baking Christmas cookies with others at Neighborhood Church and passing them out to the townspeople.
Friday and Saturday look like snow days so I probably won't be going up to my camp in York Gulch until early next week.
Will continue writing my book on Friday and Saturday.
Pics show Donna at the Frothy Cup and the "light at the end of the road" a pic I took out at York Gulch.
Please feel free to visit my blog at voiceinthewilderness59.blogspot.com as I don't share all of my.posts on Facebook. And, you would be able to go back to my earlier posts when I first hit the road in April of 2014. Thanks!
Peace and Grace to you all
BR Schoenbein
December 9, 2015- Wednesday
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