Staying Connected

Saturday’s mail brought in a royalty check from the my book sales in the Philippines; there I earned one dollar and 22 cents ($1.20) last year.

Not enough to pay for a cell phone.

Saturday also, Ginny and I went to browse in Jacksonville’s main library. After checking out our books, we paused in Hemming Park for a smoke.

Here’s a photo of Ginny in the park:

Hemming Park pre-dates the Civil War. Right across the street from City Hall, the park is venue for concert, speeches, art displays, whatever. Disguised as decorative rocks in some flower beds are electrical outlets for use in park activities.

Snowbirds flock to the park—snowbirds are homeless people who migrate south every winter to escape the cold in the north—Snowbirds flock to the park because it’s in easy walking distance from the City Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army Shelter, and the Clara White Mission. It’s not unusual to find snowbirds asleep on park benches or playing checkers beneath the Civil War Memorial.

As Ginny and I talked about our library finds this week, we noticed a snowbird settle on a wall across from us. Ragged clothes, shoes in tatters, worldly goods in a pillowcase, unshaven, typical. He fiddled with something in his pillowcase and drew out an electrical cord. He moved aside some bushes and uncovered one of the rock-disguised outlets and plugged in—He was re-charging his cell phone!

This year, Jacksonville attracts a better class of bum.