7:00 a.m. I woke up at my friend’s house on her couch. I watch a few things on my phone. When she comes out of her room we talk a little bit, and then get ready to head out.
8:00 a.m. I drive back to my campsite, well, to where I parked my car near the woods where my camp is. I stop into the grocery store and grab a bottle of tangerine juice which I like. I’ve decided that I’m going to build a larger camp close to the one that I already have. I spent the morning scouting, and trekking through the woods. I found a spot where I plan to set up The second campsite. I will be doing a mini-series and go more in depth into the building of this larger, more accommodating camp. I have time so I spend some more time exploring, I come across a few abandoned camp sites in my travels.
11:00 a.m. I haven’t eaten anything yet today, and I’m not feeling well. I hiked out of the woods, and today I decided to take the bus into town. Once again the bus driver told me I didn’t have to pay the fair. The bus drops me off near the lifebridge day shelter. When I get to the day shelter Matt is there, the man who played songs for me in the street the day before. It’s good to see him, and he says that he’s going to stay inside the shelter for the night. We hang out and eat lunch together. I also see Chris outside. Chris tells me that his pants were ripped and he pulled them down in the day center and had shorts underneath, and for that he has been given a no-trespassing order and can’t go on the property. I let him use my phone and I brought him out coffee and a half a sandwich from the day shelter. Matt the musician is also at the Day Center waiting for lunch. He tells me about his post office ID that you can use all over the country. This is cool. He also tells me that I can go into the museum and Salem using my EBT card. He tells me about a program that the state offers where they want to culture homeless people by letting them into museums for free. https://www.mass.gov/info-details/ebt-card-to-culture-organizations
12:30 p.m. after lunch I walk back to the library. I have an appointment with my friend Dave, who is an engineer and has done a lot of study on system dynamics. He is going to go over system dynamics and how that operates within social systems which I find pretty interesting. I get back at the library around 1:00 p.m. and Dave and I spend about an hour and a half on a zoom meeting. It’s really interesting to look at the mechanics of things and what comes into play with systems when the factors are laid bare in front of you. I spend some more time in the library waiting for dinner.
4:30 p.m. I walk over to the Lifebridge Homeless Day Center for dinner. I talked to my table mates, and I eat some cereal until the dinner arrives. The food here is usually pretty good but tonight they’re serving a goulash. I eat it cuz I’m hungry.
5:30 p.m. I leave lifebridge and I begin walking back to the library. I decided to walk a different way instead of going down side streets. I stay on the main roads. While walking towards the library I pass a place called the Salem Athenaeum, it looks like a library and a woman outside invites me in. They tell you that they’re having a writers event tonight at 7pm, it’s 15 bucks to attend. I tell them that I’ll pass on that, and they tell me that I’m welcome to come anytime and use the space which is really nice. I love the library but the space is pretty cool and it has a very colonial feel to it.
6:15 p.m. I’ve been rolling around the opportunity and the idea of checking out the writer’s event at the Salem Athenaeum. They don’t have these events often cuz I looked at their website. I decided it’s worth the 15 bucks so I walked back over to the Salem Athenaeum and I paid for the event. It’s a really interesting event. Local publishers read off their stories and poems to the audience. The writers were really talented, and I enjoyed listening to them read from their writings. I was grateful I attended, although I did feel out of place. The event was populated by mostly older white WASPy privileged New England suburbanites. I did learn about an open mic night in Lynn on Wednesday nights around 7:00 p.m. at the Walnut Street Cafe, which I think I will be attending in the future.
8:45 p.m. Once the event had concluded, I decided to head back to the camp. I look at the bus schedule. The next bus isn’t coming for another 15 minutes and my camp is about a 40-minute walk. I decided just to walk to the camp. In my travels I pass Cryin Mike. He doesn’t recognize me so I say, “what’s up Mike!” He says, “oh I recognize you, you’re the adventurer.” I said yep that’s me. Mike continued on to say, “take care of yourself.” I said, “likewise my friend.”
9:30 p.m. The walk back to the camp wasn’t bad. I opened the tent. I lay down on my air mattress with my blankets and I settle in for the night.