(no subject)

[prsguitarist_42]

Ocala reminds me of a Valpo with palm trees. They're strikingly similar; really the biggest difference between the two is that homelessness is a lot more apparent in Ocala. I'm sure there are a decent amount of homebums in Valpo, considering that we have that Spring Valley Shelter, but here in Ocala it's pretty apparent that the homeless are out and about. And the city hates it too. Last night we had trouble finding a place to sleep because there were so many cops around and we heard that they get people out here for "Lodging in Public." This area is textbook case of gentrification. There's obvious poverty, but it's mostly contained to the outskirts of the city, where the local rich don't have to see it. The core of the city is composed of the most upper-middle class Americana crap-ola you can think of. This town would put a minivan commercial to shame. We finally got to sleep in a dumpster behind a strip mall, but alas, the dumpster truck came for its load while we were in it. So we got the fuck out of there (with much banging and tripping over garbage bags) and the driver of the truck gave us the most horrified look. I guess not many people out here are aware of dumpstering. So we ended up just sleeping on the concrete outside, and we dumpstered a shitload of candy and a pizza from Papa John's. It was surprisingly cold, but we dealt with it. Around 8 A.M. a police officer woke us up, asked us for identification, and then told us we need to leave Ocala because we can't camp out in the town.

Our plan is to stay at the homeless shelter for a bit until we get settled in, and then we're going to start camping just outside the city. I can't wait for Rainbow Gathering to start, because for those two weeks, we can just stay in the forest and get free meals from hippies. Wooh to that.