Update 10/1/07  Home forclosures increase and Michigan is going Bankrupt along with Millions of Americans throughout the Country. Folks something is drastically wrong !

Gasoline is at a all time high. The Interest is too thanks to legislation passed by your Congress! Both the  Credit card companies and Oil companies are raping the American People while the President,Vice President and Congress fatten up like Gluttons at a blackwater trough!!

Media talking bobble heads play safe and only babble constantly about OJ and  Hollywood /Rich bored Sex Bimbos/and the latest pedophiles over and over in complete denial of the actual news that affects us all. It isn't news it is olds!! We are in the time my reading friend, the Hopi Holy man talked about, Thomas Bayanca "the snake is eating its own body!"

Update:Update:Update: Sept 7, 2007:

Thom and I met in Grand Rapids Michigan.I picked him up and we went to Sagatuck Michigan for the day. I had not seen or heard from him since 1999. We had a very enjoyable day and we have been communicating  since by email and phone. The other major event I had been asking the Creator daily for in 2007 is Peace  I will keep asking for that too. Thom is getting back into his photography and has been taking PR Photos. He gave me this one that he took of Lake Michigan to share with you.

                       I love My Son THOM and that Lake, When Thom was young we used to spend hours and hours near Lake Michigan when I was a U.S.Forest Park Enforcement Ranger. We also ran many of the fast water rivers in Michigan with canoe. Especially the fast white water of the Pine River where my Great Grandfather  and Thom's Great ,Great, Grandfather Bill Loomis settled in 1912.

Thom told me within a 6 block area in Grand Rapids Michigan there are seven places to get good food to eat. You can eat most of the day. There is more than one shelter there too for the homeless.

John,Alex,Georgia,Peter,Sally,Freddie,Bob,and Cantor,you should all head to Grand Rapids near Divison Street down town.it is next to the Amway Grand hotel,the Calder sculpture,and Butterworth Hospital. There are several shelters there where you will be able to weather the winter and have plenty of food. winters can be quite severe in Grand Rapids,Michigan. If you want somewhere warm try Santa Monica,California, Tucson Arizona, the State Park near Tucson is outstanding but camping is time limited to two weeks. You can camp two week leave one and then return for two more weeks. During the Tucson Rock and Gem show in the month February the Vendors are looking for extra help. You can  camp near there at Electric Park and then get paid to help vendors set up for the show.
there seemed to be a pretty fair relationship between the vendors and the Street people when I was there.
The Street people were allowed to  sell newspapers along the streets. do not steal in Tucson. Store owners and vendors can shoot you if you steal from them.

As I traveled throughout the Manistee National Forest in  Northern this summer I saw many people out and about with their belongs and their car. I talked with them and after a few pleasantries they opened up and told me they lost everything they had but their car and the cloths and were on the road. Some told me they did not have enough money to stay in the National Forest Campgrounds so they were living in the woods between the campground and the National forest. they could still slip over and use the facilities of the campgrounds. Crime is also up in the area and there are situations where people are living in shacks that have been abandoned for years. The Governor has been talking about early release  for prisoners.Travel  budget is restricted for the Michigan State Police. That was obvious as I drove from Traverse City to the Ohio State line twice. I only saw one squad car on that distance one time. The other time I didn't see a Michigan State Trooper for the whole trip. In normal times with plenty of money in the State budget I would see 3 to 4 active squad cars in that distance. As soon as I crossed the state line in Ohio at Toledo I saw three Ohio State Trooper squad cars from Toledo to Columbus I saw 4 State Trooper cars,and 2 Sheriff Department squad cars on patrol.

Times are good for some people while the gap grows between the haves and the have nots. I notice the same ol game begins as people blame the victims,LOL until they become the victim. Times are hard folks snap out of denial. Most of us are only a few steps from homelessness and certainly most of us do not have medical or dental care similar to our politicians. We have to really vote someonr into office in the next election who will make a commitment to close the gap created by this adminstration.

 God Bless,

  Woody

Update July,2007

MY SON THOM AND I CONNECTED LAST NIGHT HE IS HERE IN GRAND RAPIDS MICHIGAN MORE LATER .2007 is a GREAT YEAR HIS VOICE REALLY SOUNDED GOOD TO ME!!

UPDATE Mar 3,2007 the recent Stock Market fall not a surprize to me. It is just a matter of time before the war in Iraq and the Bush Spending  bankrups the Country. If you think 9-11 was bad wait until  you see the Stock Market Crash in this Century.People are now losing their jobs and  homes in geometric proportions, bankruptcy is increasing ,foreclosurs are at a all time high and the homeless population is growing. The State of Michigan has already lost 30 % of the population who are on the road somewhere. It is a free fall economy and it has not bottomed out yet due to the governmental manipulation of the economy. Don't expect a Republican or Democrat to do much for positive change they are feeding at the same place in Washington they are now getting ready to pick the bones clean of the middle class with the election and the dumbing down of the media in 2008.

UPDATE JAN 4,2007:  I have heard through the moccasin telegraph that my homeless VET Friend in Chicago(ToothBrush) has a new job and a room and a microwave!!! Congrats Veteran Buddy and welcome out from under that cold bridge. Send me a email if you get to the computer at the local library!!!

Thom, send me a email or Call,  let me know how you are doing! I really miss you. Love Dad

I have been meeting and talking with droves of homeless people since Thanksgiving and especially the past few days.Most of us are always a heartbeat from the same situation due to natural,economic, and political disasters.Katrina taught us that hard lesson of what happens when you are homeless overnight! In case you hadn't noticed home foreclosures is at a all time high especially in my Michigan and Ohio territories as people lose their  long time jobs in vast numbers.I talk mostly with the people who have and see homelessness as a opportunity. Those who are in despair or drunken stupor I will not disturb from their slumber.Addiction is a special category and mental illness is dangerous even for Santa!or Woody, I have had enough with addictions to last a life time working in the field and have a son Thomas somewhere out there! There are those that actually choose the homeless lifestyle for the rules of the streets and woods. I knew a few of these people when I lived near Dublin,Michigan as a Child,one was a Man named Joe Andre who lived in a hole in the ground across the road and in the woods near the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Irons. The other was a man who lived near the Little Manistee River, I can't think of his name now.There was actually a Woman by the name of Sarah Partridge who lived on the Little Manistee River. The fishermen could wade up and down the stream all day casting fly and worm for the large silvery rainbow trout! mostly to no avail. she would walk out to her little bridge and call fishy,fishy, and the dark shadows of 50 to 60 Beautiful silvery sided steelhead trout from a pound to 28 lbs would show up for her feed!! LOLOL There were two women widows who always had big vegetable/flower garden and they shared their flowers and food with everyone!!! I was recovering from Colon Cancer in 1978 and one of the caring Grandmothers showed up at the Old Gillispie Farm House with flowers and a nice quart canned venison broth. I was feeling stronger the very next day as my body took on the energy of the deer meat broth ! It was far better than the bullion that the Dr and hospital dietician had recommended.These two Grandma's always worked in dirty knee high bare feet that matched the soil and often said that their gardens contributed to their long life! Long life is living in balance and close enough to the Earth to smell it,even taste it,and to definately get dirty from it! The other secret is caring for your fellow man and touching someone's Soul every day in some way. I believe both Grandma's lived doing,caring,bringing home grown flowers for neighbors far into their 90's. There were more and I will discuss them as this Guide grows or even in another guide.Whenever I meet the street and wood people anywhere I think of these early individualist's from the Big Manistee National Forest area.They were very special souls.

Therefore I am going to pass the wise words of those who are actually the living ,working, homeless to you in this Guide. I am currently in the haven or Heaven for the Homeless. The Santa Monica City and Beach in California.Some people have been here on this borderline of humanity for over forty years!

There isn't much roadkill down here in Santa Monica and there isn't much that you can eat that washes up on the beach.I know how to survive in well the Northern Climes but not down here. We who grow up in the woods are taught at an early age that the porcupine is a good eating animal that you can kill with a stick.I have tried other foods over the years.A young ground hog is pretty good eating too. Rabbits and squirrels are all good eating along with muskrat from clean streams. Muskrats actually eat some of the best medicine plants available. If you parboil all these before dipping in flour,herbs,and use pepper juniper/cedar berries. and frying you have much better eating. You must also look for little scent glands near the back legs of these animals and remove them as they flavor the meat. The Trappers learned a long time ago that the dark meat of the beaver isn't bad either but it seems to taste best stuffed and roasted similar to a turkey.More on all this later. Just make sure your road kill is fresh and not too badly damaged. To be sure cars kill their share of animals roughly 60,000 to 110.000 per year in each state. Many with anti-hunting bumper stickers plastered on them!

I interviewed a single woman dancer yesterday who was in a successful dance career, but simply climbed a ladder to fix the props on as set one day and fell  from the faulty ladder breaking her back. This abruptly ended her dancing career and began the long expensive hospital spiral that became a major drain on her person and resources. This event triggered a downward slide nearly to total homelessness for her.But she caught herself from the fall to remain independent! She is now beginning work with young dancers teaching them how to dance and she is going to get a pair of my best center seam white ballet deerskin moccasins!! I remember that you need a size 8 if you are at the local Library computer reading this.

 She is a Huron/Scottish mixed blood Indian from the large Reserve in Quebec. It never amazes me how small this world is/Here I am a Scott selling Huron Moccasins from the Wedake Reserve in Quebec in Santa Monica area and and I meet a transient person who is Huron /Scottish. She isn't really homeless because she has her little beat up pick up with her hand made tiny wooden home made from recycled materials with four nice cats on back! One Pokey the white one has traveled with her for 16 years.He curled up in her chair and slept while we talked. Her cats love to climb the knurled trees that line the Santa Monica beach area! LOLOL I will not name her but have her name and she is going to keep me posted by email,she has a cell phone and uses the computer in the Santa Monica Library. She is doing exactly what my dream was a while back and she is doing it well. She built her own little stylished wooden home on the back of a aged pickup truck during this time she travels with her four cats from industrial areas and church yards each day when the beach parking opens at 8:00PM. and returns each night morning back to her safe places.When I was out there on the road I picked  the parking lots with survailance cameras to stay overnight in because I was traveling alone. I never opened the door for anyone after retiring at night or until it was daylight to see who was knocking on my door.I also kept a 12 Gage Browning Automatic filled with 00 buckshot very close by for added protection, as a common rule I believe fire draws fire so I don't flaunt firepower. However in America today I think you are living blind if you do not pack personal protection where you sleep. Home invasions are at a all time high in Columbus Ohio!

My Olympus camera switch broke permanently a few days ago just before I left it got tired of all the listings on Ebay. Sooooo I have to rely on others for photos but perhaps it is not good to expose these individuals too much in the guides.I also do not want to give authorities too much information so that they bust the homeless people I talk with or disrupt their life cycle of survival. I'll never forget when I was working at a American Indian Drop in Center in Traverse City when a local Cop, most of the Police there were top notch,the right stuff, but this one got tired of seeing a local homeless person or drifter as the Record Eagle (local newspaper) called him and picked him up drove him into the woods and beat him several hours and nearly to death with his night stick for some unknown deep dark pathological reason.I was also extremely concerned with the shootings of people and pet dogs and cats as a sport by authorities in New Orleans during Katrina.Where is all that darkness coming from? The retired Police I talk with in Chicago are much softer balanced personalities and are really nice Grandfathers to their grandchildren.

We learn a lot by behaviors during natural disasters and I learned that in any disaster you better have community and keep it intact as much as possible before,during, and after the disaster. It has been rewarding to learn that the homeless have a sense of community and network and do look out for each other.They call and contact and make sure everyone is ok in their network better than any of the so called  community service agencies. If one person finds a good food source for the day he lets the others know even taskes it to a fellow he knows is going frome plate to plate.They know the dumpsters in a given area where the best food is dumped each day. Bread and bagle places are a good bet as they serve fresh every day and dumpday old at night.In Santa Monica the homeless gather near places that serve extra large portions.The paying customers come out with their
excess food in foam white packages that replaced doggy bags. They make a very simple humble request for the food that is left over and most people give it to them.

The whole food system is really bazarr in America.We have become such wasteful gluttons it is no wonder the hungry people of the world hate us! I just saw where the two football teams of Ohio State and UCLA had a contest at a famous Hollywood eatery to see who could eat the most prime rib. They devoured around 650 lbs of prime beef per team,i canonly imagin how much excess was dumped after that feed. Some businesses donate their excess food to the relief shelters rather than dumping it. That too can be hazardous too as Tootbrush told me in Chicago that some of his friends got ill eating from the dumpsters. Then the Resturant and business owners solution to the ill homeless was having the Police arresting them or chasing them from the dumpsters. 

I Simply want to present my readers with the actual survival skills  and personalities of the living homeless I meet.Unfortunately my words may alter the lifestyle of those who I interview for this guide as the authorities pinpoint areas I discuss in this guide. I spent Christmas Eve serving humanity and myself and the Cowboy/Country Santa more on that later. Their is a certain good Spiritual feeling at Christmas time that would be nice to have throughout the year. Several of the homeless asked me for a gift of money. Several have been trained in assertive behaviors to ask for help and cash! I have experienced these well trained homeless living in groups and clusters around large events like the Tucson Rock and Gem show which is a World class event every month of February in the the whole Tucson Area! They help with the show,set up and take down.They often sell newspapers there on busy street corners. I  saw one well dressed lady with a large sign that read. I need to get to my Fathers Funeral in ?Tenn!! on Big letters? Standing on the traffic Island next to a busy street.

I had a Trucker approach my Moccasin Wagon in a Truck stop between Tucson/Phoenix as I was getting a map out in the motor home part in the dark, he startled me and I did not have old Betsy nearby, when out of the dark came his spiel,Hey partner have you got some spare change,I am trying to get to the hospital,my sister and mother have been in a serious wreck in Kentucky!! He got my fear based roar!!!! Get the H-lllll out of here!! Go on Get out I am tired of gIVING!!!!!!I watched him hustle his fat truck stop a-----off in the dim truck stop lights and climb into his Semi!!!I think he was hitting every white haired Senior up in the rest stops on his truck route from Kentucky to Mexico, probably supplementing his $35.000 to $40,000 a year with their tax free donations!! If you are not aware fellow grey heads you better become aware you are perceived as a easy target by about every predatory mind out there including predators in suits and behined computers!!I have a major problem that may cost me my life someday,when someone sneaks up on me and trys to ask for money or rob me I lose it totally,I goooooo beseeeeerk!!! I know you are supposed to be coooool and give them what they want,but I just blow up!!!

In two cases the robbers have split like the trucker. One incident was in Battle Creek Michigan the other was in Greek Town in Detroit! My Guardian Angel was close by my side both times! These were the drugged street thugs with no soul  left in their eyes a whole different category.They would kill their mother or Minister to feed their drug addictions! Some have! They come to the Gun Shows here in Columbus Ohio I believe 7 to the last show were arrested attempting to steal guns from the vendors. They recenty had a news feature on a local station with a Police woman in the armory where they keep all the high power arms taken from criminals,she was complaining that the Criminals are better armed than the local Columbus Police! That they didn't know where these arms were coming from? I do, I see gun deals going down all the time! I know they do too! They cannot be that blind or stupid to not know where the high fire power is coming from? If they don't know just go undercover just go to the next gun show! I have sold moccasins at gun shows accross the country. I have nearly every kind of weapon offered to me by fellow exhibitors or customers. I really like the automatic shotgun that holds a box of shells in a canister bellow the barrel. I was offered a real deal on that in the Cow Palace in San Francisco!

There is a distinct difference in the Friendly drifters on the streets.They sleep under bridges and overpasses.They often will sleep in a unlocked car overnight.The line between breaking a law and following laws is sometimes very fine.The Friendy try to be as socially respectable as possible,they bathe fairly regularly,in public restrooms,drop in centers. I met one in Chicago who insisted on brushing his teeth about three times a day. He was really disappointed to find that his tooth brush was missing and that he needed a new one.I gave him the name Toothbrush just to keep from revealing his real name.
One friendly Guy on Third and Broadway in Santa Monica, had a small  sign that read, I just need a hamburger folks,just enough money for a hamburger on Christmas Eve! I said, ok Doc give me your true story, before I donate how much have you collected today? He said,just about enough for a nice decent room for the night! That is all I really want for Christmas. I gave him $5.00 in his worn cap for the room fund,we shook hands,Merry Christmas,Bamaapii (later in Odawa language) More in this Guide later.

Thanks for reading my ramblings, May you find them helpful, may tou keep your safe home no matter how humble,if you do

read my guides please make a resolution to rate them in in 2007.

If you don't find my guides helpful rate them too all feedback is important to me!

Eitherway thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings here!

Happy New Year of PEACE2007, Thom we need to get together in 2007 Love DAD!

Woody