MidSummer's Nightmares

I slept out under a full moon last night. A very bright "star" appearing near it in the sky was, reportedlly, Jupiter. The sky was clear, the night relatively mild (although temps have been a lot cooler than norm) and things were fairly peaceful and quiet. Some sirens in the distance. Even more distantly echoed blaring of trains. And, faintly, some fog horns from the bay beyond.

It had been another long day, and I was both fatigued and still ill. Yet, I had trouble getting to sleep. I was just awake enough that my mind betrayed me and began to run both past troubles and anticipations of possible hardships ahead. Even... winter.

I've been trying to get some medical attention lately. Even went to the County social services offices. They did send me to a doctor this past week, too. But just for a "physical exam" to see if I "qualify".... the doctor assured me I would receive no actual treatment for anything during that visit. Heck, I didn't even get the "physical exam" I'd expected, for that matter. He just asked a series of questions and made some notes. Didn't even take my temperature nor blood pressure or anything "physical".

I'd returned to where I'd been formerly "curb camping" along a residential street -- out in front of a church property complex and across the street from mostly apartment buildings. Some of the youthful residents were coming and going; some walking right by me - I could've reached out and touched them; same with some parking cars on the other side of me. One sat and idled the engine for quite awhile - right there - before shutting down and going inside.

We'd all been rousted a couple of nights before - sent away by cops. "We" were quite a lot of people by then. More and more folks had been showing up nightly, until about a good 600 feet of fairly densely fitting lodgers had been regularly showing along two blocks there. Last night, there were only three of us on that block, and a few more on the next.

The calm was rattled by someone yelling "Free pizza! Free pizza! Come 'n get it!" on the next block. I got up and did. The "gutter punk" kids and others similarly bedraggled were clustered over there and had a big heap of donated old pizza. So I had a slice, taking it with me back to my "spot". And, once finished, tried again to drift off to sleep.

It wasn't too long before the quiet was shattered again by shrieks from the couple "camped" maybe 30' feet down the way from me. A rat had stepped on them, startling them. I'd had the same thing happen to me about a month or so ago, down the block a ways.

Checking my watch, I found it was already past 2am. And morning comes all too early. As I finally was drifting off, some hooligan kids came boisterously down the sidewalk, goofing and... one pretended to be loudly wretching and vomiting, leaning over each person trying to sleep, as they passed.

Sweet dreams....