Six hundred and fifty nine miles. Far more than I could do four months ago. I’ve certainly learned a new way to sit when I drive. With the seat all the way up (front and back, no tilt) and far more forward than you might imagine for someone six foot and two inches. I wasn’t sure if I’d go for it or not, yet I tried it and it worked great. Parked at the Walmart in Clovis, right on the edge of their lot, I laid down a sleeping pad and slept in my sleeping bag on the dark side of my car from their parking lot.
It actually worked great. Jimi, the homeless man that lives in his car in the lot across from the thin grassy strip I slept in had told me. Gladly, the strip mall lot he was in had all daytime businesses so it kept that side of my car all the more dark. He had walked past my car after I’d laid down and said he could barely see me at all, as I blended into the shadow of my car. With that success, I’m going to try it again tonight.
I again woke up a touch early that I wanted, just a bit after six am. City traffic for the first time in I don’t know how long plus a wee bit of daylight was all it took to rouse me. With no tent or spare blanket, I had no good way to shield my eyes from the sun. After rolling once or twice I decided to get up before I was spotted. Up on my elbows, I reached for my (tobacco) pipe for puff or two. Instantly I felt something queazy and decide I should take a quick trip into the store.
I stood up, opened the car door and sat down. I put on my shoes and pulled in the sleeping bag and pad, then drove for a close spot. Fully mobile in five minutes tops, my best time yet. Into the store and back out (did you know there is a whole website/app/community of people that track their shit, and follow shit that other people track, daily.. shit I’ve seen not the internet,) I returned to the same spot I’d been parked all night.
It didn’t take long and Jimi- who later told me he’d been walking around in Walmart looking for me- came up and found me in my car. Eccentric is one word a person might use, yet really I think Jimi really likes being himself. Over the last twenty some years, he’s spent a lot of tine with himself.
.Time to rest.