A Fire Under the Bridge

Part THREE of Life on the Street series – Pastor Greg wanted to experience life as a homeless person so on February 1^st, 2008 he left home, walked to the mission and survived on the street for 3 days with the clothes on his back, $5 in his pocket along with some matches, gloves and a small hunting knife.

I found a break in the traffic and snuck down through the spot in the guard rail and bridge rail to a place under the bridge. It was only about ten feet from the river edge to the bridge end so I did not have much room to maneuver. I went to the end where the breeze blew toward me so that any smoke would travel under the bridge, out the other side and hopefully dissipate and not draw attention. Probably overkill but I have read too many novels and so I was being careful so as not to get in trouble. (my mind was full of the possibilities, mostly imagined, I am sure) I did not know for sure if it was legal but it seems like an open fire under a bridge in the city limits would be frowned upon. Especially when I looked like I did – I was worried I may end up safe and sound IN JAIL.

I gathered a number of rocks and made a two foot diameter fire ring – gotta be safe you know. I then gathered a bunch of wood from the dead tree that I saw on the way here. It was just out from under the bridge but below the roadway so I could not be seen very easily. I broke up the wood and whittled some shavings to get a fire started. I used my newspapers from the Martin's store trash receptacle and shortly had a small but warm fire going. I tried to make a comfy place among the rocks – not so easy but eventually found a way to sit on some of the wood pieces that were, as yet, unburned.

I removed my three pairs of socks and warmed my toes over the fire while trying to dry out my socks. They started steaming but never fully dried up. I realized after an hour of this that they may warm up but were not going to dry out at all. Good enough though. I sat there and warmed up while the time passed. As I ran short of wood supply, I had to get more wood or leave. I realized that it was close to dinner time at the mission so I suited up and put out the fire and headed up the bank. The walk to the mission was only 30 minutes or so and I arrived shortly after the doors opened.

Dinner was salad, spaghetti, bread and green beans. I ate until I could not eat any more. Then I went to find out what it took to stay overnight. Keep reading…I'll be back with more before too long.

Next – "A Night in the Mission", "Running from Frank" and "You've Got Some 'Splaining to Do"