(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Take Note of the Cold. It might help save your life. It might enrich yours. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2022-12-19 We are about to have a huge artic blast that is coming over the holidays and even as far south as South Florida. I hope all of you are in shelter and no one in America should be without shelter but if you know or don’t know someone but have access to many exposed to the frigid weather, then you need to share this Ask them to talk to churches and ask for shelter and should offer to help clean or whatever but ask to please shelter as it is bibilical. . Bricks or Rocks heated in a fire wrapped in cloth can bring warmth to hands and feet to keep warm if you are inside with no heat. Head covering made from anything to keep the heat inside your body. Double hats and clothing around the neck and and exposed skin. Huddled masses is indeed what was spoken at the statue of Liberty, is a way to keep warm. Body heat is very important. Face masks ( which we should be wearing anyway) but will keep exposed faces like nose and mouth warm. Wind is horrific in cold weather. Put your back to the wind.. Find a wall and guard yourself against the wind coming directly at you. Libraries, laundromats, fast food resturants , ER rooms, but try to stay warm and a 1.00 store can buy a few meals, Moving but moving slowly. Put carboard between you and the area you are sitting or laying down to insulate. Stay in familiar places and be clean. Go into most anywhere and use soap and water and be as clean as possible, You have to be clean as possible and don’t be ashamed to ask for shelter. One should also stuff their jackets with wadded-up paper. That extra layer of insulation saved lives according to some homeless or stranded people. Layer your clothing. Mittens are better than gloves. Find shelter but don’t build fires inside unless there is a fireplace.. Look for shelter before the artic air hits. I have never been homeless but I have been cold when my mobile home was crashed in and destroyed and even out of the elements…..i was cold ...This was in the 80’s, Truck Stops have showers. Campgrounds have showers but most of these places charge. Tap baths work. Remember you are in survival mode. Don’t get hostile and fight because of the desperation. ( You may think Jail is also an option but the cold spell will last days or weeks not years of no freedom). Rock Soup is a good story. Read it and remember..You are stronger than you think. Prayers are with all in this land of plenty freezing out there. There should be no homeless. www.primalsurvivor.net/… This I learned from a homeless vet: He writes: was homeless myself for awhile due to undiagnosed Depression & PTSD(I am a military veteran). One thing I did was to avoid the traditional “homeless areas”, which are usually in really shifty areas of town… yes, it was harder on me as there was no soup kitchen within walking distance, but the added security was worth it in my mind. Sure, you STILL worried whether someone was going to slit your throat in the middle of the night, but the odds of it actually happening where greatly reduced. I slept behind a flower shop, sneaking into the area after dark and back out before dawn to avoid getting caught. In the town I was in, the police were VERY hard on the homeless, as if BEING homeless was a crime! But it was a HUGE vacation hotspot, so we can’t have anything jeopardize those almighty tourist $$$… let’s just shuffle that pesky *reality* out of the way so it doesn’t interfere with the coffers being filled. I also made sure to never leave anything behind that might alert someone to my presence. I would go to the library to use the Internet to have some sort of connection to what was going on in the world besides my own day-to-day survival. The 99 Cent store was a boon to getying cheap food. I had to make a single can of refried beans last 2 days once… but there were days when I had nothing at all. One time – JUST ONCE – I was VERY hungry and I asked the guy behind the counter at a 7-11 convienance store if I could have a hotdog. He said “no”. I have no doubt whatsoever he knew my situation… but I also know from experience that there is a tiny segment of the homeless population that the entire thing is a scam – a way to live without responsibilities, to get as much for free, by hook or by crook, as possible. Honestly, I was shocked when I came to that realization. “These people have actually CHOSEN to live like this! They think this is some sort of con game.”, I thought to myself. Once again, reaffirming my choice to avoid those ‘homeless areas’, which added to my isolation, which just made my Depression worse, but added to my safety at the same time. I made sure to pay attention to my appearance, both out of not giving the cops any clues to pick up on, and shame about my situation. One morning I was sharing food with an old homeless man who would sleep by the library(he never caused trouble so the nightime security guards wouldn’t run him off) & I finally admitted to him that I was homeless too… he had no idea. I tried to stay clean & groomed as best I could. I remember wearing just a pair of shorts & taking a “shower” in the automatic sprinklers of the big city park that would water the grass at night. That would have been a sight had I gotten caught! LOL Oh wow. .. sorry, didn’t mean to write a book here… just sharing info gleaned from real life. This all took place almost 20 years ago – I am in a much better place now. Pass any info along to help your brother and sister, Thinking of those at the border. Their lives matter. My grandfather never ever turned what they called back then hobos away. He had a big barn. He had a big heart. He provided them food and shelter in the big barn. He gave them blankets, and coverings and built them a fire outside and checked on it often. We were in Ga, He asked in return they keep themselves and the barn clean. He provided them Lots of jugs of water even though they had access to the well and plenty of soup and dumplings. My grandmother made a lot of soup and cornbread and biscuits back then. They farmed their land and put up cans and cans and cans of applesauce and vegetables. My uncle was the local doctor. ( My grandfather’s brother). My grandaddy died January 10th 1973 in the middle of an ice storm. He was warm, he had all of his facilities and his last thing to do was feed some squirrels. I thought a lot about him today. He lived to be in his eighties. He was blessed. Most almost 100 percent stayed one or two nights and always offered to rake the yard or help in some way. I think I learned empathy from my Dad and my grandfather. He also provided some books and magazines for those who could read, to read. I think the majority of this was in the great depression. He never let one person he saw go hungry or cold. Georgia got cold just like Florida. There were no food pantries or shelters back then. It was up to folks like Big Daddy. He was not a rich man but he was a blessed man. He never hurt finanically because I believe of all his good he provided for the unshelterd who got off the freight train and knocked on his door for a meal. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/19/2142722/-Take-Note-on-the-Cold-It-might-help-save-your-life Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/