run them off the road, dammit ! ..

i opened the Hangout at 4:00 this morning
it had been raining off and on, and got rough a couple hours prior

when i unlocked the door i heard a familiar voice
a voice i thought had moved on
a voice with a distinguished southern accent
a voice that had traveled 40,000 miles in the last 12 years
walking, thumbing, riding ..
with his dog

a voice that had been in Desert Storm

he was back here
thick and heavy beard
couple teeth missing
upbeat as ever

he'd been around and back

2 days ago he was riding his bike, pulling a trailer
some woman in the approaching lane pulled into his lane and ran him off the road, dog and trailer and all
..  .  .  .  ..

process that ..

i found it difficult to believe it was on purpose and questioned him on it
he said it had happened several times in his travels
and other homeless travellers vouchsafed the very same thing
one of them fell over a 40' drop-off and suffered broken bones because of it

processing ?

be sure to process it
don't simply walk by ..
put yourself in that situation

imagine the inhumanity of the deed
purposefully running someone off the road because they're homeless ..

then he balanced it out with this
some days prior to that he was out of money
he told God he needed $20
some time later as he was walking the street there was the $20, in the gutter

some time prior to that, as he was riding someone approaching in the other lane blew their horn and waved and tossed something out the window, shooting the peace sign
it was 2 $50 bills wrapped around a dollar coin ..

pray for the homeless
help them when you can

they need it

by the way
he recently had his military benefits settled with the government, including backpay
he went home for christmas
and bought the best christmas gifts he could find for his grandchildren
2 of whose fathers, his sons, were killed overseas in the military

he had never enjoyed that, having been raised on a farm with little to go around
and wanted his grandchildren to experience it at least one time

in addition, although his own children apparently said some rather hurtful things to him while he was there,
he paid off the mortgage on the farm
so his children and grandchildren could have some form of security

he left 4 days before christmas because he couldn't take the lashes he was getting from them ..

that's his story, anyway
and i believe it

the man suffers from ptsd and has had 1/3 of his stomach removed from 2 bouts of stomach cancer ..

think on these things

God help us

peace