June 22, 2011

I know I'm a day behind on my dates, but I'm still in denial that I won't miss a post.  I will probably be skipping a post soon.  The song of the day today is "Galveston" by Glen Campbell.  It's been reported that Glen has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, but is going to go ahead and record his final album.  Get ready for thirteen songs about the time he took you on a fishing trip that was only attended by him and a cousin that resembles you.

I arrived at Tent City last night around 7:00.  My bike had gotten a flat tire, and I haven't been able to use it for the past couple of days.  I was finally able to find the right sized inner tube and fix it, and I'm glad to have transportation again.  While taking the bus is nice if you know what bus to take and the critical times of the route, it is brutal if you are trying to go somewhere you've never ridden to before by a certain time.  It's worse if you're the only person on the bus and the bus driver keeps stopping at every stop even when no one is waiting.  Road rage is ten times worse when you're not even in control of the vehicle you're riding.

One of the TV stations in Lubbock came to Tent City a few days ago and did a story on how the residents cope with the heat.  The response has been great.  Someone donated an ice merchandiser freezer to be stocked weekly with bags of ice, and Tent City now has no less than fifty cases of bottled water.  A big group of people is gathered at the picnic tables talking and laughing.  This place is pretty discouraging during the day.  As soon as the heat breaks, though, and residents begin trickling back in, everyone becomes more optimistic.  While some residents spend their days running errands, working, or looking for work, the main goal for many is only to make it until evening.  Nobody fist bumps at the end of the day like at a nursing home, but you can feel a sort of mutual accomplishment in having lived through another one.

I've noticed that Rufus has been significantly more active than normal lately.  For the past week, every time I've seen him he has been working hard at something.  Sometimes he hauls dirt around for Miss Mary's garden.  At other times he carries things to and from the barn, and nobody seems to know exactly what he is doing.  Tonight I'm helping Miss Mary water her garden, and I look up to see Rufus walking towards me from the barn with a bucket over his head.  I'm guessing that he was testing his spatial knowledge of Tent City as he takes the bucket off his head just as he reaches the Administration Building.  He sets it down and goes inside.  Rufus has been doing quite a bit of cooking lately.  Tent City has a few crock pots, and Rufus has been using them to cook beans and stew.  When the watering is complete, I head inside and Rufus offers me some beans.  We sit down to eat and he turns on the radio.  Rufus will spend about two hours each night sitting directly in front of the radio switching it off any time there is a break in the music.  "I like dem tunes dey play on the bear." he grunts referring to a country station.  "Sometimes I switch it over to hear dem ol' rock tunes."  Most everyone at Tent City doesn't pay any attention to Rufus because they all think he's crazy, but after he tells me the history of the band Slaughter, I think his mind is all right.  We finish eating and Rufus heads outside.  A few minutes later, I come out and see Rufus standing in the dumpster staring out at the tents.  I walk over to him and he doesn't look at me when I thank him for the beans.  I guess Rufus doesn't feel like talking so I walk away.  I've only walked a few steps when I hear Rufus growl "you welcome."