The Day Nature Welcomed me
4:30 a.m. It’s been a rough night. With the fear of ghosts, the drizzly rain, and the fear of Coyotes I might have got 4 hours of sleep max. I can’t even say I woke up, it’s more like I got up. Planet fitness opens at 5:00 a.m., so I packed my gear up and I biked over there.
5:30 a.m. I arrive at planet fitness, I lock up the bulk of my gear, and keep the little detachable backpack with me. I work on the blog uploading videos and other media stuff. It’s a good time to just sit back and relax. I’m sleep deprived.
8:30 a.m. I Head to Pearl St Cafe. I’m able to meet a few of the patrons at Pearl Street Cafe We’re waiting in line for my food. Pearl Street Cafe is a soup kitchen that serves three meals a day during the week. Pearl Street is an extension of United Way, a non-profit that feeds destitute and homeless people. I meet a man named Ronnie, he asks for a cigarette, I give him the rest of the cigarette I’m smoking. Ronnie and I talk about the homeless resources around town. Ronnie tells me there’s a men’s shelter right across from the Framingham women’s prison. The breakfast at Pearl Street is a grab and go, which means it’s in a Styrofoam container and you just take it with you. I take my breakfast which is some little pancakes and eggs, and a couple of juice boxes and sit it up on a picnic table across the street and eat my breakfast. Pearl Street Cafe is right next to the train station, so it’s cool to sit and watch the trains.
9:30 a.m. I head over to the recovery center across the street, called Anchored in Recovery. The door is locked and it seems nobody is home. Although the schedule says it’s open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. I end up sitting around and rolling and smoking a cigarette. I will jump ahead into the future, I apologize, but I don’t want to make people look bad unnecessarily. Later on in the evening during dinner I made a friend that told me that you have to enter the recovery center from the rear entrance. I do wish it said that on the front door. I’ll be testing that out today the 24th.
10:00 a.m. Since nothing was happening at the recovery center. I decided to hang out at the library. On my way I found the home office for Smoc, The big social service agency in the area. I hang out at the library for a little bit, charge my phones, and work on stuff. I plan to do some more exploring around the area that I slept the night before. It seemed pretty cool on the maps. I’m also curious to find out what snaps trees in the middle of the night. In my mind all I could think about was that Juggernaut Ghost from the movie 13 Ghosts 👻.
Art at the library
11:15 a.m. I leave the library to ride out back to the area where I slept the night before. I stopped at Burger King on the way and stuffed my fat face. It’s always a delight eating the most unhealthy food possible. I will need the extra pounds to get through this cold winter I’m sure. On the maps I saw a little wooded area surrounded by water where I had been the night before. I head over there. It’s much more beautiful during the day. There’s only two thin strips of land that lead to what’s like an island. Well I’m walking around and I see all kinds of cool mushrooms. I also see the tree snapping bandits, I see the marks of a family of beavers. I find an owl pellet. I also stumble upon three beautiful large swans, and get the best pictures I’ve taken to date. This area is secluded, close to my resources, and beautiful. This is where I will make my camp. I rest for a while and do my week 3 Policy Points👇
2:00 p.m. I rode out of my new campsite. The tires on my bike are kind of flat. I stopped at planet fitness. I have a little air nozzle adapter for the tires in my big pack. I grab that and I stop at a gas station. I’m unable to inflate my tires with the air compressor they have because it sucks. I also think I paid $2.50 twice for the air. I ride a little ways down the road. There is a bike shop on the other side of this road I see. I stopped in and asked the guy in the shop, who is working on a bike, if he could help me fill my tires. He’s quick to help and has an air compressor right outside ready to go. I love this bike shop. His name is Cisco and he tells me that he worked in graphic design, and left to follow his passion working on bikes. I can definitely relate with Cisco. I tell him about my project and we exchange cards.
3:00 p.m. The Pearl Street dinner is at 5:00 p.m. Breakfast and lunch or take outs, dinner is a sit-down meal. I have some time to kill so I ride my bike around and do some school. I go to an old pump house and chill there and smoke a cigarette. I hang out at a small cobbler shop that was the first job for the 20th vice president of the United States, and film a cool grasshopper. I also spend a little bit of time at the library again.
5:30 p.m. I arrived at Pearl Street Cafe. My friend Vicky is working. Vicky runs Pearl Street Cafe. She does all the cooking, manages the volunteers, and she is like a ray of light in the lives of the people that come to Pearl Street. I met Vicky when I used to volunteer at Pearl Street with my aunt, when I was living in the area. My aunt Kris and my Uncle John gave me a place to stay while I was getting back on my feet after being released from federal prison. Volunteering at Pearl Street was a great experience and laid the groundwork for a lot of the stuff I do today. I was really happy to see Vicky, I didn’t see her when I came in because she was sitting against the wall towards the entrance. She says, “oh you don’t even say hi to me,” I say, “I can’t say hi if I can’t see you.” Vickey gives me a big hug and tells me to sit down at the table. One thing I really like about Vicky is she treats the people at Pearl Street, every one of them, as if they are all old friends of hers. Vicky is a person that truly cares about other human beings. Vicky also gives lots of hugs to the people that walk through the door at Pearl Street. We have chili for dinner, which is the best. Vicky is an amazing cook. It’s good to catch up and talk with Vicky and some of the other people that are dining tonight. I learned of a few more resources in the area to check out.
7:00 p.m. I leave Pearl Street Cafe, I ride to planet fitness, take a shower, and grab my big pack. I took a ride around the area. I’m always looking for spots to camp. I don’t see anything appealing close by, so I head over to beavertown. When I enter the woods, I lock my bike to a tree, I descend down a drop off, and I have to cross a small stream that has a log and stick bridge. The bridge is actually a little damn, and I think the beavers made it. When I get to my campsite, I hear the plump beavers diving into the water. They probably not happy that I’ve arrived. While I’m getting my stuff set up I can hear the beavers doing belly flops. I make little cat calling noises to the beavers. I can see them swimming. I really love this campsite. It’s well lit, it’s fairly quiet, and I feel safe. The beavers make me feel safe. The beavers probably don’t like me, I like to think that the beavers might come to my rescue if there’s ever an intruder in my camp. I can’t say exactly what it is, but I really enjoy having the beavers as my campmates.Â
9:00 p.m. I have the tent setup everything’s ready to go. I put everything in the tent with me while I sleep. I may enjoy the Beavers company, but I don’t trust them not to steal my stuff. There’s birds screeching, beavers splashing, I’m asleep by 9:30. I sleep really well.
