Cali Trip - Part 2

Once getting out of San Fran the drive was easy. deidre got out the CD’s that she had recorded, turned the volume up and sang at the top of her lungs along with Adam Sandler, Tenacious D, Jewel, James Blunt, Prince, Eminem and all of the other music that closer to the bottom of Master’s list of favorites than the top. she’d called everyone to let them know she had made it in once piece and was in an adventurous mood ready to take on anything that Hwy 101 could throw her way.

When she made it to her dad’s house at about 3 am she was shown to her bed, hugged and tucked it. she wanted to fall asleep right away. The next day would be starting much earlier than she wanted it to.

One of the reasons deidre chose this particular time to travel back home to California was because her father was planning on combining an open house along with his annual 4th of July party. There was just one problem though. The house wasn’t finished it. At this point the foundation had been poured, the studs and walls had been erected the roof was on and so was the siding. There was nothing else though. No flooring, no insulation, no hot water, no toilet etc. deidre was sleeping on the second story of this unfinished home. Under 2 thick blankets the 50 degree cold sill seeped in. deidre spent the first 15 – 20 minutes of each night shivering before falling into sleep.

deidre’s first full day with her dad started with coffee -thank god- He had a meeting first thing in the morning and then came by in his work truck to pick up deidre and take her to the main park at which he works. He introduced deidre to a few of the people that he works with and then took her to the water treatment plant that is his responsibility to maintain. He showed her how to mix the chemicals and take readings of different levels in the water so that it can be labeled safe to drink.

Then we drove out to one of the other parks that he works at where there is a working lighthouse. On the way there deidre took some wonderful pics 

 It’s so pretty out there with the ocean nearby, the smell of salt water, the mountains over yonder and the space in between flat and plain like. deidre could easily imagine building a small cabin and living out the rest of her life in that spot.

Dad’s property consists of a small wellhouse/shed, a large garage with washroom and the house itself. Until the house is finished Dad, B, and their 2 Newfoundland are living in a 36-foot trailer. When it comes to socializing there just isn’t room so dad has a campfire ring in the front yard (yes, the front yard) and the 5 of us (dad, B, Hero the dog and Blessing the dog) sat around the fire each night talking. That first night we were up until about 2 am.

It was just like summers as a kid when deidre and her sister would spend 2 months camping in whatever park dad was working at at the time. Every night we had a fire and slept in a tent. Each day we would run around getting filthy and covered in dirt, sap, sand, and whatever other messy thing we could get into while dad was working.

Staying at dad’s house was a bit like that. deidre never got fully clean. Within a half an hour after getting out of the shower she would be dirty again. There was nothing to do but accept it and have fun anyway.

Friday was a little more relaxed. deidre woke up, got dressed, went down stairs and was reminded that today was the day that she promised she would go to the soup kitchen with B. deidre’s never actually been to a soup kitchen and it sounded like a wonderful opportunity to help out the community. We got there about 10 after picking up one of B’s friends and her son. Lunch would be served at noon but there was quite a bit of prep work to be done first. deidre helped to brew coffee, set out the bread, set up silverware and the juice table etc. Noon came very quickly.

deidre didn’t quite know what to expect. Here in Saint Pete the homeless people that deidre has been exposed to stand out on the street corner all day asking for money. deidre is always tempted to get a stack of job applications from the nearby area and hand them out as she drives by instead of money. she didn’t expect that the people at this soup kitchen would be like that, those people on the street corners here make far too much money to ever go to a soup kitchen.

What she saw made her very sad. There were families coming in. Little girls and boys with their mothers and fathers who didn’t choose this life. Teenagers who couldn’t meet your eyes because they were embarrassed to have greasy hair and dirty clothes, ashamed that they had to accept food from strangers rather than starve. Almost every single person there thanked us after being served and when they returned their dirty plates. 74 people showed up. Out of those 74 only 2 seemed to be your “typical” homeless person on either drugs or alcohol.

It kind of makes you think doesn’t it?