Sunday was nice. I spent the day with Jeremy. He's the same age as me, and he let me tag along while he checked out a campsite. He showed me some places in Forest Grove where I can camp if I need to. 

The cool thing was all the extras. He not only showed me camp sites, but also: a cool place to find about $20 worth of cans every Wednesday; a special wall I can leave messages for him on; and he introduced me to a couple of his friends. 

Making friends on the street has proven invaluable to me. The service agencies are great for getting into programs that will supply food and shelter long term, but street people are amazing in their willingness to help each other survive. 

The first thing I learned about street peeps is that they can only show you what and who they know. So it pays to pay attention to the homeless among me seem to be keeping it together best. They are always the ones who know the most number of people and have the biggest number of secret blessings they can clue me into. 

They tell me who the people are at the different agencies that are best to work with. They tell me which cops will be cool and which ones will be hard-ass. They've shown me where to camp or what door is cool to sleep in, and they've even let me in on the best places to find snipes (cigarette butts that have some length left on them).

Lately, I've been getting a lot of marijuana blessings. People have been sharing their pot with me, and it helps me to sleep. It's also a nice mental vacation when I have time to kill before getting into the shelter for the night. There are a lot of drugs on the street, but I have to say that Pot is truly a blessing to those of us who use it.

On Friday, I was told that my name came up on one of the housing lists I am on. That's when I found out that I need a copy of my birth certificate.  That is all I'm waiting on right now in order to complete the process for getting into an apartment. 

I know that I am no more than one month away from being off the streets, and that knowledge gives me a sense of peace. I am able to walk a little slower and to handle stress a little better, simply because I can see the end of this thing not too far down the rode. 

Once again, I am missing my pit bull, Lexi. I carved her name into a tree in the swam/camp that Jeremy showed me, yesterday.He led me to a wash in a flood plane that is overgrown with low lying trees and moss. There is moss all over everything. He calls the place "ewok forest". I felt honored to be given a tour of a the place. 

When a homeless person takes you to their camp, they are making themselves vulnerable and unless they're a complete fool, they only bring people to their campsite that they trust. So fare  I've been taken to two campsites and invited to stay at both. There's a third campsite I've been invited to, but I haven't had time to check it out yet. 

I think, at least 'till my housing comes in, I will be camping in a tent when the SOS shelter closed at the end of this month.