The Jacksonville Possibility

The Florida/Georgia game (the worlds biggest outdoor cocktail party) will be in Jacksonville this year on the 27th of October.

When I saw Everbank Field listed as the location I wasn't sure; because Altel Stadium was the name of that place the last time I was there. I guess the phone company went defunct.

I Believe Omletts Were On The Menu That Morning...

Misty, Watercolored Memories...

This makes it enticing to hop the train which stops right in front of where Howard and I sleep and take it to Jacksonville, where I have at least one friend; and several more who might appear out of the woodwork.

I also have a lot of memories, like that of the luxury which my friend Larry and I used to live in.

I was actually getting out of the labor pool on a daily basis and, though I grumbled about the $262 per week which I was taking "home" (right), we were clearly able to maintain our peace of mind and eat well.

Our Delicate Ecosystem

The forest was declared a "protected" swamp and is labeled as such on any map of Jacksonville, but, it was actually a high and dry hardwood forest.  The designation was due to influence of politicians by the wealthy, who lived in big houses in cul-de-sacs which bordered the woods. The residence didn't want the land to be sold, bulldozed and "developed," right behind their big houses; so; it instantly became swampland.

Larry and I put up our own "No Trespassing" signs, threatening all kinds of legal action against anyone who encroached upon our delicate ecosystem. Not once was our site disturbed.

I would have to assume that I'm not making 262 dollars per week now, as a busker, because; where is my beautiful campsite? ....In Marin County, California, Bozo!

It's amazing what the combination of cheap stuff bought at Big-Lots, and stuff found for free in dumpsters can add up to (as officially homeless men we felt we had a license to hop in the dumpsters such as that of the Winn Dixie supermarket (we knew their disposal schedule -seafood on Sundays, dairy on Tuesdays, for example) and would often be there at sundown, when the employees pushed the carts full of food out of the back door. We got to know the employees. I befriended them by using humor; such as when Larry and I were discovered in the dumpster, and I asked "Aren't we the biggest raccoons you've ever seen? And the ugliest?" LOL!

We would often go inside the store to purchase things to complement what we had found;  maybe some A-1 steak sauce on "steak disposal day" (Thursday) for example.

There was an office building 200 yards away with electricity and running water, and a pond full of bullfrogs that functioned like an alarm if anyone came around; but they never did, as noted.

This info would have been in this blog, from 2006, but almost two years of posts were lost from that period, so I guess this is back-fill.

To the left is the setup, which I had in front of my tent (all under a tar-roof).

I used to like to; on the weekends; sit in the sun and read, while drinking coffee. The milk crate to the far left is full of books minus their front covers, which I had gotten from the dumpster behind The Book Nook, and had transported the 3 miles back to the camp on the handlebars of my bike. Transportation was key.

Eventually (after my stint in Saint Augustine which lasted 2 years) I brought my then-girlfriend, Karrie out to the same forest which she took to like a possum and we made a pretty nice anti-home there.

But, Can You Go Back?

The problem with thinking the way that I am thinking are the pitfalls which one encounters in wishing he could have things back the way they used to be.

For all I know, the politicians who declared the woods a swamp may have been voted out of office and there may be a Super Wal-Mart right where our tents once sat.

The water spigots and the electricity may have been locked up. The same politicians may have passed "no busking" ordinances city-wide (especially around Everbank Field).

I know I should be looking ahead towards a job and an apartment, and then maybe eventually putting some kind of show together which will go over big on Royal Street in New Orleans. 

My chances of putting all that together by starting out with a ratty acoustic guitar are like the chances of a truck driver saving up to buy his own rig out of what he is getting paid to deliver Twinkies.
Maybe by the time I start getting SSI as a 65 year old, I can supplement my monthly check and live like a king -an amplified production featuring a Chinese girl playing violin comes to mind....about a 2 thousand dollar investment; including mail-order delivery of the Asian girl....
So, that is one of the things that I will have to sleep on, (as well as a hive of ants) in the next couple of days.