Hi everyone, 

Happy Holidays!  May this holiday season be filled with the love and warmth of your family and friends; the spirit of giving and receiving; great food; and the appreciation for all that you have in life.

I hope the New Year brings you good health, prosperity, and the desires of your heart.


Bev



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For years I've watched friends play golf.  From the sidelines, it's enjoyable but not much fun.  One day, I was watching a golf tournament on TV and saw a female caddie.  I suddenly had a lightbulb moment: I can't play golf, but maybe I could be an occasional caddie.

My friend "Steve" is an avid golfer who likes to walk the course, so I asked him if I could be his caddie.

"What?!?  Did you say you want to carry my golf bag?" Steve said.

Two weeks before the big event, I did extra reps of exercises to strengthen my back muscles.  When the day came, I was good and ready.

The Big Day

Steve, his golf buddies, my back brace, and I are on the golf course.  The sun is shining; there is a slight breeze; and the group ahead of us is not playing slowly. It's a great day for golf.

Because Steve walks the course, he carries the bare minimum in his golf bag: 14 clubs, golf balls, tees, extra gloves, golf towel, umbrella, rule book, scorecard, two small pencils, couple of quarters for markers, one bottled water, a banana, and a couple of energy bars.

My intention is to carry the golf bag and the paraphernalia that probably weighs 22 pounds for 9 holes or more.

After Steve hits his first tee shot, I pick up the golf bag.  We start walking the course.  I'm not a real caddie and as a result, I don't help with strategy or yardage.  But I do give Steve the appropriate club that he asks for, wipe off the dirt or grass from the club, and rake the bunker.  Hole after hole I'm enjoying myself because I'm playing golf vicariously through Steve.  Everything is peachy.

However, as the day progresses I noticed that it's getting warmer.  It must be at least 85 degrees with no breeze.  What happened to the breeze?

Somewhere between the 6th and 7th holes, there is a tectonic shift.  An earthquake is coming.  My forehead starts to sweat under the golf cap. Small drops of water are forming at the temples.  The strap of the golf bag is digging into my shoulder.  The muscles of my calves are cramping up. And I have periodic shortness of breath.  

Steve is having a decent day on the golf course, so I don't want to interrupt.  Now I'm schlepping around a golf bag full of rocks.  Every time Steve looks over to see how I'm doing, I force a smile and give him two thumbs up.

It's the 8th hole.  I don't know how I got here.  After Steve finishes the hole, I decide to say something before I collapse on the golf course.

"Steve," I whispered, "do you have a moment?"  Steve comes over.  "I've got bad news.  I'm not cut out to be a golf caddie.  It has nothing to do with you.  I'm quitting because this job is killing me."

"You can't quit now," Steve joked, taking the golf bag from me.  "We've got the back nine to play."

"Yeah, well, the back nine is going to have to live without me."

"You know, Bev, it's too bad you're quitting because one of my golf buddies wants you to carry his bag.  You might have a career as a golf caddie."

"Very funny, Steve.  I'll keep that in mind.  Right now, I'm going to the clubhouse."

"Feel better.  See you at the clubhouse in a couple of hours."

If Only 

If I had powerful muscular legs, the stamina of a long distance runner, and the strength of steel, I could have made it to the 9th hole and beyond.  But, alas, I didn't.  So there went my career as a golf caddie.

I'm back to being a spectator, unless I have another lightbulb moment.




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I've been around golf most of my adult life as a spectator.  The position of the body after a golf swing isn't good for my bad back, knees, and posture.  I have to watch the sport rather than partake in it.  So, from the sidelines this is what I've learned about golf.

Starting with Golf Vocabulary

I learned early on that there are good words and bad words in golf.  

The good words are: 

• "It's in the hole!"
• Hole-in-one
• Eagle
• Birdie
• Par
• Low handicapper

The bad words are:

• "Fore!"
• Out-of-bounds
• Three-putt
• Quadruple bogey
• High handicapper
• Bunker
• Hook
• Tree
• Water
• Wind
• Whiff

All of the above are not just mere words.  They create intense emotions in a player. The good words will get a fist pump.  The bad words might make a player throw a club and mutter an expletive.

Golf: Not Just Another Popular Sport

Golf is an extremely popular sport.  The game is slooow and methodical, and it takes four to five hours to complete a round of golf.  That's a long day at the golf course.  Most players don't even notice the time.  For me, by the fourth hour, I'm ready to go to the clubhouse for that cold beverage.

For a while, I couldn't figure out why golf is such a big deal.  It involves men and women spending their weekend chasing a small white ball and trying to put it into a small hole.  It's just another popular sport, right?

I posed this question to an avid golfer-friend who has played the sport for years. After he got over the absurd question, he tried to explain how golf was different from other sports.

The Difference Between Golf and Other Sports

Cost.  Golf is an expensive sport.  The average player should have the following equipment and necessities: golf bag, 14 clubs, covers for the clubs, lots of golf balls, tees, golf gloves, golf clothes, golf shoes, waterproof shoes, rain suit, golf umbrella, golf towels, money for greens fee, and possibly money for golf lessons.

Ca-ching!

A gentleman's sport.  A player plays the game according to the Book of Golf Etiquette & Rules.  That's right, there's a book on etiquette.  For example, there is absolutely NO talking or moving around when a player is about to hit the ball. If you talk or move and a player makes a bad shot, run for the hills as fast as you can.  It's your fault.  The player isn't going to be happy, and he will be looking for you.

An individual sport.  Golf is an individual sport, not a team sport.

The honor system.  The game is played by the honor system.  If a player makes a mistake, he must call a penalty on himself.

Mental sport.  The game requires a great deal of thinking as to what to do with a small white ball and a bunch of clubs.  The player creates a plan to get the ball into the hole in as few shots as possible.  I find the plan a bit amusing because from what I can see, conditions on the golf course keep changing.  Therefore, the player is constantly modifying the plan.  It's almost as if there's no set plan to play golf, but to be without a plan is insanity.

The sitting ball.  In other sports, the player reacts and moves the ball almost immediately.  In golf, the ball can sit there for a few minutes basking in the sun while the player thinks about what to do with it.

A versatile sport.  Golf can be played in a variety of conditions: in the rain, in the wind, in the scorching heat, in the sand, in the water; and among ducks, gophers, squirrels, and other inhabitants of the golf course.
Early bird tee time.  Many players are so gung-ho about golf that they are willing to play the game early in the morning.  The early birds can start playing golf at 6:30 a.m, the first available tee off time. I'm convinced that if there were a tee time for 5:00 a.m., players would be teeing off in the dark.

The caddie.  The professional golfer has an assistant: the caddie.  No other sport comes to mind that allows a professional athlete to have a helper who participates in the game.  The caddie's job is not to wipe the sweat off the pro's brow.  His job is to carry the golf bag, help calculate yardage, give advice on strategy, and give moral support.  The caddie is on the course to lighten the load so that the pro can think . . . think . . . think . . . about what to do with the ball and the different clubs.

Golf: What's Not to Like?

Golf from the sidelines has been an interesting way to learn about the game.  It's better to participate than to watch.  Nevertheless, watching friends play golf has been educational and enjoyable.

It's fun and exciting when a player puts a small ball into a small hole.  The sound of the ball going into the hole is sweet music to a player's ear.  It never gets old.

Golf is a dynamic, complicated, and mentally challenging sport.  It can also be a frustrating sport.  As my avid golfer-friend explains, the game is straightforward. It becomes complicated and frustrating when the ball has a mind of its own.





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• Poverty
• Job loss, sometimes culminating in chronic unemployment
• Long, deep recession resulting in scarcity of jobs and high unemployment
• Lack of affordable housing
• Loss of housing due to foreclosure or nonpayment of rent
• Mental illness preventing the ability to work
• Substance abuse preventing the ability to work
• Domestic abuse forcing victims to live on the streets
• Serious illness or prolonged medical condition that depletes funds
• Divorce with little or no financial support

The Underlying Reasons

The underlying reasons are often the preludes, the opening acts, the impetuses that start the homeless cycle.  Some of the major reasons are listed below:

• Poverty
• Chronic unemployment
• Taking housing for granted
• No homeless prevention plan
• Bad decisions that create vulnerability and set off the domino effect
• Lack of good problem-solving skills
• Lack of good decision-making skills
• Lack of good life skills
• Lack of emergency funds
• Mismanagement of funds
• Excessive debt
• Lack of a supportive network, personal and business
• Lack of financial independence producing unhealthy dependency
• Lack of preventative services to keep people from losing their homes
• Inadequate programs for mental illness and substance abuse

D.S., the prolific and world-renowned novelist, has written a book that is a departure from her normal fictional prose.  In A Gift of Hope: Helping the Homeless, Steel reveals clandestine work that she has done with the homeless on foot for 11 years.  The work is a tribute to her late son, Nick Traina.

Steel leaves her comfortable world and courageously ventures out into the toughest (and sometimes the most dangerous) homeless areas in San Francisco. She brings sleeping bags, jackets, gloves, socks, and toiletries.  She does her work at night ignoring adverse weather conditions and even her safety.

She asks for nothing in return.

In her memoir, Steel provides detailed accounts of her personal experiences with the homeless on foot.  The most deprived and barely surviving group of people in the homeless population.  She describes the areas and conditions in which they live, the display of impatience and desperation by the homeless, the physical deterioration and emotional effects of the homeless caused by the lifestyle, her concern for the very ill, a few close calls that endangered her life and that of her small crew, and more.

Steel also talks about how the work affects her and her view of the homeless:

"It is life-changing to be there, to look into the eyes of people who are lost, suffering, sick in body and mind, most of whom have lost hope.  They are the forgotten people, whom no one wants to think about or know."

Steel's work of hope and compassion are her gifts to the homeless.  There are two other gifts that she generously gives out: they are the rare gifts of unconditional love and unspoken understanding.  Since her acts of human kindness come straight from her heart, she asks for nothing in return and requires no explanation.

There is one last reason why Steel's work should be commended: She treats the homeless with respect.

A Gift of Hope: Helping the Homeless is an important book for the public as well as for the homeless.  Steel gives the homeless a voice and that is a very powerful step to identifying and solving problems.  I highly recommend this book.



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Periodically, I'd like to share what I see on the streets.  It will give you a glimpse of the homeless condition and its population.  Images will not be used because the posts will be entries from my homeless journal.  Please feel free to comment.

An Act of Human Kindness

I recently saw a homeless man in his twenties help a homeless, elderly woman to a public restroom.  She had trouble walking and she was holding on to his arm. She was dressed in layered clothing and must have been in her mid-to-late seventies.  She was petite, under 100 pounds, and well-kept.

This was an uncommon scene on the streets for me, so I was touched by the young man's compassion.  It was an act of human kindness, a gesture she undoubtedly appreciated.

When I walked into the restroom, she had already started washing up.  I said good morning, and she acknowledged me with a warm smile.  Then she turned around and continued to wash up.  I wanted to talk to her.  I wanted to ask her how she was surviving and how she became homeless.  But it was obvious that she didn't want to talk.  Like most homeless women, she was in and out of the restroom as quickly as possible.

I thought about her for days.  I've seen many homeless women, but none of them were close to her age.  She seemed like a sweet, elderly lady.  Someone's grandma.

What is she doing on the streets??  It breaks my heart to see a frail, elderly lady living on the streets.

As I go deeper into the woods, I hear the sound of an active stream.  Through the trees I catch a glimpse of the house.  I pick up the pace, and then Fallingwater comes into full view sitting on top of a waterfall.  My mouth drops open.  All the photographs I have seen don't do justice to this unique house and its imposing site.

I have to remind myself that the house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 and built in 1936.  It was the time of the Great Depression and a time when organic and modern architecture weren't commonly practiced.

Fallingwater, the once weekend retreat for successful businessman Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr. and family, sits in a remote area of the forest.  A variety of oak trees, other hardwoods, and native white rhododendrons surround the hideaway.  Built mainly of glass, steel, concrete and native sandstone, the retreat is a sight to behold.  Low to the ground and three stories high, cantilevered terraces with reinforced concrete jut out into space.  One continuous vertical window framed in steel and painted red, starts at the basement and goes up to the third floor.

Through a slit between two walls on the side of the house, I enter Fallingwater.  The entry seems a bit dark.  But when I get to the living room, the space opens up and I'm hit by a flood of natural light.  The enormous room, which measures 35' x 45', has broad bands of windowpanes.  The windowpanes emit an incredible amount of light.  And because the space is based on an open floor plan that has no partitions, the windowpanes also provide unobstructive views of nature from all sides.



The focal point of the living room is the hearth, a favorite boulder on which Kaufmann sunbathed.  The living rock protrudes about one foot through the floor. Wright incorporates the boulder as a basic part of the house because he believes the house should evolve from the site.

The floor of the room is made of quarried stone, and it's one continuous surface that goes from the inside to the outside where it becomes the terrace.

The walls are rough sandstone laid down in horizontal uneven layers.  Wright reiterates the horizontal uneven pattern of sandstone as it appears in nature. Like the floor, the walls continue to the outside of the house.  

Wright uses very limited colors and materials inside and outside of the house.  He uses the natural colors of site materials and nature. The color of the sandstone walls is ecru, and he adds red and yellow as accent colors.

The remainder of the house consists of two to three bedrooms, a modern kitchen, a skylighted reading area, a music alcove, and a hatch that opens up and provides access to the stream. 

In addition to the main house, there is a guest house located a short distance away.

Frank Lloyd Wright and Edgar J. Kaufmann were two unconventional and bold thinkers.  They loved nature and strongly believed it should be a major component of life.  Wright brought nature and architecture together and made them a unified whole.  It was daring and original, and it was organic architecture at its finest. Fallingwater was truly remarkable for its time. Kaufmann not only lived in nature, he also became a part of it.




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Bibliography:

Hoffman, Donald.  Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.  New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1993. 

Nash, Eric Peter.  Frank Lloyd Wright: Force of Nature.  New York: Smithmark, 1996.

Here is Cameron's writing exercise that I use to free my mind and even prep it for writing:

1.  First thing in the morning, take out three blank sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 paper.  Be sure to use no fewer than three sheets of paper and use paper no smaller than 8 1/2 x 11.  This is to allow for ample writing space.

Cameron highly suggests that you do this exercise first thing in the morning and make it a daily routine.  The exercise is more rewarding when done at a certain time.

2.  Write in longhand; don't use the keyboard.

As Cameron explains, "There is energy to the hand that leads our thoughts to a deeper and more connected place."  I talk about this profound connection in my earlier entry titled "It's a Pen-Paper Writing Process."

3. Sit down and get comfortable because this writing exercise can take approximately 30 minutes.  Put pen to paper and let her rip!  Write down everything -- I mean EVERYTHING -- that comes to mind.  Don't worry about the mechanics of writing and don't censor a word.  This exercise is for your eyes only.

Cameron points out that it's important to get the words down on paper and write from the gut. Writing from the gut is that "deeper and more connected place" she talks about above.

I don't believe Cameron mentions whether to keep the Morning Pages or discard them.  I don't feel the need to keep them, so I discard them the next day.

Doing Morning Pages has been extremely beneficial to me.  Writing all of my thoughts down on paper without censoring not only gets everything off my chest, but also teaches me to write more freely.  And doing the pages first thing in the morning has its advantages.  Acknowledging the thoughts and giving them priority first thing in the morning silence the thoughts and calm the mind.  I've noticed that when I write my thoughts down early in the morning, they tend to not resurface during the day or continually vie for my attention.  Morning Pages is a simple yet powerful writing tool that helps me concentrate better and write more effectively.

I should have done Morning Pages a long time ago.  Thank you, Julia!




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Bibliography:

Cameron, Julia.  The Right to Write.  New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putman, 1998.

. . . you have a sign on the door that says " Do Not Disturb - Writer At Work."

. . . you eat, sleep, and breathe words.

. . . you use a pseudonym: "Hi, I'm B.H. Emingway."

. . . you go into a quiet secluded room, shut the door, sit at a desk, and wreck serious havoc
      on the brain.

. . . you name your children 1st Draft, 2nd Draft, 3rd Draft, and Final Draft.

. . . you revise a piece of writing over and over and over.

. . . you do a word count.

. . . you have a file full of rejection letters.

. . . stranded on a deserted island with a pen and a sheet of paper, you write a grant 
      proposal outlining the rescue plan.

. . . you order a New York Times Bestselling Author Sandwich with a side order of Big 
      Advance.
















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Chronic homelessness can last a long time.  Many homeless people who are unsheltered fall in this category.  The length of time on the streets is primarily determined by circumstance. Some people have an advantage over others.  They have a car, a little money, or periodic help. But the people who have close to nothing make up the majority of this group.  To understand their plight and challenges, take a look at some of the core problems.

Poverty and Long-Term Unemployment

Poverty is one of the core reasons for chronic homelessness.  Virtually every person who has been on the streets for a long time has problems deep-rooted in money.  A lack of money.  Making money is the answer, but when a person is homeless, the solution is not cut-and-dried.  There are other factors to consider.

Long-term unemployment plays a large role in poverty. There are two groups of people that this does not apply to.  They are the people with mental illness and the substance abusers.  Due to their issues, they are unable to hold down a job.  But for most of the chronically homeless, it all starts with long-term unemployment.  Lack of work and poverty are closely linked because one gives rise to the other.  And when both merge, they form a tight circle that is hard to break.  However, if the following needs are met, the circle can be broken:

1.  Temporary Long-Term Housing -  It takes time--a lot of time--to rebuild a life where the landscape has been totally stripped.  When a person is trying to make a huge change from being chronically homeless to being an employee, it is a long haul.  He or she needs help.  And the initial help that he or she needs is long-term housing.  Nourishing food, a bed, a place to maintain personal hygiene, and a place to rest and get ready for the next day's work are paramount to a successful transition.  Without housing and basic necessities, a job is at risk. 
2.  Companies that Hire the Homeless - Looking for a job to resolve the poverty issue is an arduous endeavor.  Most chronically homeless people do not have much to work with.  Many of them do not have a cell phone, an address, reliable transportation, and a resume with references.  Due to some of these reasons, many companies will not hire them. But there are companies that do and finding them is not an easy task.

Homeless Assistance Programs and Caught in the Gap

Another core reason for chronic homelessness is a lack of different programs to help meet the special needs of the homeless.  To my knowledge, in the state of California, most homeless assistance programs are for families with minor children.  Other programs are set up to take in only adult males, only adult females, or only people who have escaped domestic abuse.  A few programs are set up for individuals, but there is often a long waiting list.

For the chronically homeless who have special circumstances and needs and do not meet the criteria, there are hardly any programs available.  They might be a family with a member who has a health issue and requires special accommodation.  They might be a family with young adults, and the young adults have not been able to find work.  Whatever the case may be, this small group falls into what I call the program gap: a hole or empty space between programs.  

Lack of a Sufficient Support System

One of the saddest facts of being homeless is when there is little to no family support.  Lack of sufficient support is the last core reason for chronic homelessness.  There are a multitude of reasons why this happens, but the following are common causes for inadequate support or no support at all:

1.  Short-Term Support - Chronic homelessness requires long-term assistance.  Many families cannot provide assistance for the long-term, and since the recession of 2007, it is even harder for them to help a member in dire need.  But some families can provide short-term help with housing, basic needs, and a little financial support.
2.  Limited Short-Term Support - Some families can also provide short-term support, but it is limited.  They can provide either housing or a little financial support.  
3.  Inability to Help - There are other families that want to help, but cannot provide any assistance because it would create serious problems and financial hardships.  To provide any assistance would put them at risk for homelessness.
4.  The More Common Reason - Unfortunately, the more common reason seems to be that some families refuse to help in any way because there is a breakdown in the family unit and/or a lack of close family ties.

There is an End to Chronic Homelessness

Chronic homelessness feels like an eternity.  Problems seem so insurmountable that it looks like there is no light at the end of the tunnel.  There is light at the end of the tunnel, and there is an end to chronic homelessness.  Success comes to those who persist.  With a positive attitude and continuous effort, there is no problem that is unsolvable or no situation that cannot be turned around.