Neighbor News
The magic of our Santa Cruz County Parks & the growing houseless population.
Hiding out in the SC Co parks as a homeless person 2011-2012. Garbage/trash, human feces. Homeless encampments. And the magic of our parks.
If by some stroke of sunshine you are reading this, maybe I have attracted your interest; lets take a walk. Before we capture the pleasures, located on 1 (one) lovely, well traveled path, (What park would you like to breath in?) Which one? These natural settings belong to our community & its welcomed visitors (tourists), correct? Before we step onto the county park "land" keep this in mind; know, we have no where else to go. Lets agree we are houseless. I have a tent, a back pack & plenty of low impact snacks (that is trash free). I have sturdy sandals, open toed. What are you wearing? Lets be sure we have water & TP - toilet tissue. (Do you agree ya never know when the need might arrive?) Follow me; look there's a banana slug. My neck reaches back to take in the height of our/those mighty tall redwood trees. The Soquel Creek is shallow; I enjoy rock hopping. Have we wandered off the path? Oh my goodness what is this? An abandon mattress, 4 of them! Oh my goodness, this is a mess; I just stepped in human poop!
The photos I hope to share with this article, sure hope you'll enjoy them. And I sure hope to awaken to just how our county parks are needed by the responsible houseless populace. I cleaned or organized that mess up. I notified our fine Park Rangers, they came & hauled the pile of crap off to the landfill. Over 3000 pounds of wet, smelly, gross trash. Guess who left it for the park rangers to deal with. The freaking drug users, local and transient. Used needles, we bagged them. Alcohol bottles urine & spit. Gross cans of beans, tuna fish, peanut butter jars. Insects & ants crawling all over. Clothes, blankets and towels so moldy I nearly vomited from the smell.
As you all chat over your personal grievances, your complaints; toss in a few sincere compliments. WAKE up to the magic of our County Parks. Fix the houseless problem, it's growing as tall as those redwoods. Keep in mind it only takes a few bad apples to spoil the whole basket. Most of the homeless I encountered as a fellow, I have no place else to go (2011-2012, thats a year & in that year I walked into a dozen of these terrible off the beaten path dumps.) Most of the houseless would never leave behind trash. Most bury their "poop" and most are skilled. Fix the houseless problem, it's growing taller than those redwoods; oops did I already say that?