6:30 a.m. I started my day as usual by breaking down camp. A friend I used to work with invited me out to breakfast. It’s Sunday, and I’m excited to sit, have breakfast, and have a conversation. 8:15 a.m. We go to this little greasy spoon diner. There’s murals on the wall so I take some pictures. The diner is cool and has stickers all over the place. We sit and chat for breakfast, about working in health and recovery. About working with people, and different behavioral health strategies. I really enjoyed the conversation.
10:30 a.m. My old coworker brings me back to the gym where I lock my stuff up. We end up having a conversation for another hour or so. It’s really engaging. And it makes me feel connected.



12:00 p.m. there’s some woods nearby so I take my little pack, and I decide to walk the trails. There’s something beautiful about looking at the trees in the winter time after they’ve shed their leaves. I see a red tail hawk, a big one. I love the red tail. It’s an apex predator that fears practically nothing. I walked through the woods a bit, and then set up to do a live at 2:00 p.m. on YouTube. I’m learning how to do the lives, there’s a lot I want to do with those, but I’m still learning. The live doesn’t go well because the camera keeps shutting off on my phone. So I shut it down.


Around 3:15 p.m. I meet up with an old friend I did prison time with. We embrace, there’s no friends like the ones you met in the slammer. We drive around and he tells me about Worcester. He’s doing really well with his life and has all his kids with him now. We go to a Mexican place called Toritos. Which I’m guessing translates to little bull. I imagine little bulls are cute and you could keep them in your house as pets if they did exist. When we get there there’s a mariachi band playing for the customers. My friend and I sit and we talk about various things, he’s gotten big into learning about trading in the markets. That becomes a large conversation that confuses the s*** out of me. I get a quesadilla, and he gets some other Mexican dish. And we just have conversation.
After toritos my friend and I go to Walmart in Worcester, where he has to pick up food for his family. This is the biggest Walmart I’ve been in. There’s people everywhere. While we’re in Walmart he sees his sister’s ex-husband. So we stop and talk with him for a while.

5:30 p.m. We leave Walmart with the groceries and it’s dark now. My friend drives me back to the gym. We share goodbyes. I take my stuff and as usual I climb back to my quiet camping spot. I’m tired, it’s been a nice day. I set up camp around 6:30 p.m. I’m in my tent at 7:00 p.m. I haven’t had much time to charge my phones so one of my phones is almost dead. My big external battery that I charge my phones with is almost dead. I decided not to do too much on my phone’s and I go to bed early.
HINDSIGHT: 10/6/2025
Rereading this day I remember it well. What comes to mind is the fact that we are prisoners of our past. While in Worcester the first thing I do is reach out to old friends. We are shaped by our pasts, there is no escaping this. It is no wonder the longer a person lives trapped in poverty or addiction, the harder it becomes to escape. Time is needed to develop new habits, and the old habits must be recognized as not worth engaging in, for change to last. Even when we do change the past still lives in us.