Oh.
I was but for being injured on the job, getting cheated by AIG of back surgery, and ended up living in the National Forest illegally 3 years. I made birch bark boxs, canteens of that and split pine, pinned with hemlock twigs, sewn with basswood bark coradge and bee's wax, which I did buy. The canteens sold at 100 bucks each the boxes varried depending on size and shape, covered or not etc.
The injury caused a divorce, the combination ruined me a long while, but i got over it. The thing that sets me off is AIG was too big to fail, and I was not. Workers comp in NH isn't great.
Neither is the courts system. The court would mail me stuff the day of and sometimes that day after to summons me. I got their papers wet living as I did. I did maintain a post box which was 15 bucks a year at the time. Since it's 40 now I wouldn't again.
It was lots of fun to show up late for court because i didn't get the summons on time, and not because I didn't pick up the mail, but because by the post mark it was mailed after the hearings.
Once the court demanded I make it know to an officer of the court exactly where I was. It was deep winter and around -20 below. So I told them and made the invite for around 3AM so I would be in camp. No one ever came. I had camp fires for cooking, 4 of them depending. I had 2 under a light canvass roof, one for light and making coal, one for coals to cook. The other 2 were in a tee pee I had before all the BS began, One in a folding stove I wore out and replace with a used cracked box stove, and a fire that the stove more or less was the backing reflector for.
And OH! 1 more a barrel stove I made to cook off maple sap, I converted again with a flat steel plate and a big farm mail box as the oven.
never has 2 cents of welfare, while the court demanded I get it, welfare turned me down for no real physical address, and no utility bills as proof.
These days i don't worry alot about stuffed shirts telling me what I must do, and demanding money.
Currently the IRS thinks I made better than 18,000 more than I did this year, and all I really made if a laughable 5 grand. That's it! I really don't care much what they think they can do, and if they can do anything, chances are what ever that is would only improve my situation.
I grow my food so no dollars there. I supliment it with wild foods still. And I will eat what ever varmint it is in my garden as soon as I kill it. I just came in from being out there all night dozing on and off. Later I will get to work on a larger truck project for hire.
I have no idea what it is to be legally homeless. No one I know in NH likes to be involved with the system. I suppose there are, but I don't know anyone on it.
I don't mean to say I was never hungery or cold,wet and tired either because I was and a lot, but I managed to get by. I made a lot of other things and gathered yard sale tools which helped. I stored things I would need later that I already had. Mainly tools. The few people i did encounter for hired work would often comment I smelled like a BBQ LOL, and when they found out my way of living would ponder on how I stayed clean. I showered just like anyone else, but my shower was a hand made canvass bag to hold about 5 gallons of water. I would boil 1 and add cold to suit me and hang the bag in a tree. I showered quite naked before God since no one else was around to see. Well except my current wife after a time. She became the soul source of company and friendship. 1 person. Pretty much today she is still that 1. other people I will only get so close with. i tend to get a bit more friendly on line than anyplace else.
Each of the 3 years I changed locations as well. Sometimes I miss that way of life and do consider going back. I might one day. At first it was hard to be alone, but after a while I got used to it. These days I spend a lot of time alone too.
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