Street Retreat Day 3 Second Try

Denver Street Retreat - Day 3:
I just wrote and extensive blog that some how disappeared on this Denver Public Library computer where I am writing like any self-respecting street blogger would do. I'm very tired and space out from lack of sleep, so losing that entry and starting over again is just about throwing me over the edge.  I'll persevere though.  I did get about 5 hours sleep last night after only getting 15 minutes sleep if that the night before.  The first night out we all froze in colder than expected temperatures.  Last night it was a little warmer and I managed to score another blanket at the church where we had dinner last night.  Great dinner, great place, very friendly volunteers.   A fight broke out while we were there and it turned into quite a  melee for a few minutes while volunteers and visitors jumped into pull the combatants apart.  I had talked to one of them earlier that day.  He had been telling me about getting kicked out of his rented sleeping room for beating up his landlord in some kind of drunken dispute.  He seems to be a walking fight waiting to happen and probably is destined for jail.  Must be a hard way to live.  I knew a lot of guys like that in prison.  The various soup kitchens and church meals we visit all have a different energy to them. Mostly the volunteers are very kind and friendly.   Some of these places remind me of prison thought ... lot's of edgy, not so conscious male energy ... well I've been there ... in prison and before, so I can relate.  I think it's a very tough place for women to be though.  The few women we seen in these places look very beaten down, literally in some cases.  It's all so sad and so real.  Some times funny too, not the pain and suffering, but just the humor and the absurdity that arises in such circumstances.  We are 7 now.  Joanne left last night because she had to work today in Moab, Utah, leaing an Outward Bound group.   That's ans interesting parallel and contrast with the street retreat.  Maybe the street retreats could be billed as urban outward bound program.  I've been seeing more and more people I recognize out here from past street retreats in Denver. THis is this is about the 6th or 7th street retreat we've done in Denver.  Some of the men I recognized look much the same. Others show signs of physical and/or mental deterioration.  It's tough out here, especially if you are suffering with mental illness or addiction.  Okay, I'm going to stop here before I lose another batch of writing, which would push me over the edge at this point.  Time to go begging.  I've got to panhandle $3.75 for my bus fare back to Boulder, which is harder than  you might think. Most years I've had to ask hundreds of people to raise my bus fare. Don't let any body tell you that panhandleing is easy money.  For more info on the Street Retreats visit: www.peacemakerinstitute.org and click on "Street Retreat."
Peace