bedbug

Rainy weekend mornings usually mean that I venture on to my more urban walking route. I have choices when it comes to my strolls but the rain seems to calm the unhomed population down enough where they are more willing to carry on a conversation and less likely to present with a random drug fueled jump scare while conversing. I have already established that I have my favorites and I’m not above buying some breakfast for the gang when they are not hostile.

This morning I did my normal route through the park and was feeling pretty good if not a little peckish. Eating McDonald’s breakfast alone feels like a worse life choice than it actually is so I calm my guilty brain down by buying a bag of food for my people if they are up and out. Don’t mistake this for some kind of altruistic humble brag. Just a fat guy trying to justify a McDonald’s run. Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself.

When it rains the water gets angry but it’s pretty to watch. As I walk through the Minnesota Veteran’s home property I pass a dam that used to power the old Ford plant across the river. It’s calming to watch unless some dumbass fisherman is trolling at the base of it then I stand for a while rooting for Mother Nature.

That shit in front of my picture is the locks run by the Army Corps of Engineers so boats can get past the dam. Pretty cool to watch in use but it’s rare at least on my random weekend strolling patterns.

You can see them kind of on the left but they were not the focus of this particular picture. Not really sure what I was going for but I found a breech in the chain link fence that prevents the vets from getting too close to the edge so I took advantage.

I doctored up an aerial shot complete with yellow crayon points of interest. The dotted line is my normal walking path and the words you can’t really read notate the Homeless Friends Route (which also conveniently ends at McD’s). Across from the aforementioned dam is where the old Ford plant used to be and now it is a bujee mixed use housing development. Anyway, this train is way off the tracks.

So I secured the bag of bad-for-me food and proceeded back to where I noticed the pack gathered earlier. I handed the goods to my friend for distribution and he introduced me to a new member. “Big Man, (that’s me) this is Bed Bug.” I must have taken a giant step back and changed my facial expression because they all quickly and at once assured me that he wasn’t infected. He just had the nickname because he was “hella irritatin” when he was high and also tended to scratch himself bloody. Good to know and none of those words made me move any closer.

Instead of my normal greeting fist bump he got the head nod followed by my giant white guy trying to act street Sup. Holy hell I annoy myself sometimes. I’d best be careful lest I find myself the bedbug of some future group. It’s beautiful out now so I may head back into the park for a beer at the restaurant or quite possibly nap. The world is my oyster and I am too lazy to look up what in the hell that would be a good thing.