Oh, GIRL!

     Thing One: It's SO COLD that our city streets were being plied mostly by tourists at 10 this morning. A pitiful two or three homeless tried to appear as if they had someplace to go.
     At the shelter I parked out back, as usual, and carefully climbed the metal stairs with their dusting of snow. We've talked about the back-door camera. Now, I am certain the boys are watching for me. I knocked on the heavy metal door and waited. When it opened, at first I didn't recognize the wide-eyed face that peered at me. It was Hottie, wearing a toboggan cap. After a pause of surprise I said, "Hey, Precious!"
     Of course, Doug was listening and began a sing-song of teasing. They knew what they were doing—surprising the old lady who has a crush on Hottie. It worked. I love it. (Doug, too, was wearing a toboggan cap; I'm telling you it's cold!)
     Hottie made himself far more available in the kitchen today. I may even come to know the boy, given time, but I'll be honest: this is a bitch of a time to have a crush (old enough to know what to do with it; too old to apply).
     Thing Two: Crazy has been completely fired from all of his volunteer positions. There is no proof that he stole 30 pounds of meat, but he was seen carrying out "a bag." That's all. Now, not even I can take a bag, so today I took a basket, and it was not so easy. And I missed Crazy. Doug and I both hope the powers that be will apologize to Crazy eventually and let him come back. Meanwhile, both the walk-in cooler and freezer have been fitted with locks, and keys were given only to Doug and Hottie.
     For lunch, Doug made the potato soup and mini-corndogs again. We served them with crackers and candy canes… I found myself filling the ice bucket and doing other chores that used to be Crazy's. Doug and I made more than 50 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and put them in plastic bags by twos. He felt smugly prepared for tomorrow.
     About 20 residents came to lunch. It is now obvious that our little girl is missing at least one oar. She came happy to the counter, smiling and announcing, "I hurt my head!" Doug asked, "Are you okay?" He's onto her—she's mentally about 4, and the best we can do is feed her and be kind.
     The teenage boy, too, brought his one (or one-half) oar to the counter, smiling too broadly and wanting another whole plate of food. No problem. Both children's mothers look tired beyond belief—perhaps you've heard the expression "rode hard and put up wet."
     The fancy lady was there, and I spotted a face that was new to me—a handsome young man with small tattoos under his eyes. I looked at them long enough to determine that they were not teardrops, but I didn't recognize them. The pre-release prisoners occasionally had those telltale teardrops (one for each murder), but this fellow's… they're a mystery to be solved another day.
     Another new face belongs to a more senior gentleman who begs the question "How did you come to be here?" He is neat, polite, well spoken and without evidence of drug abuse. He and the fancy lady are people who could be ME—couldn't they?
     A person of undetermined gender called the shelter to ask if they could come stay there. They were cold. Hottie had to tell them, "You cannot stay here without applying, but the church is open until 3." The person hung up on him. The sun may be shining, but it's below freezing today and wind gusts are hitting 30 mph.
     The young men from the hotel across the street came for a plate of lunch. They were in good spirits and we had a fun visit. Again, Hottie was right in the middle of everything—most unusual. So Doug asked him, teasingly, "What was that old lady doing in your office this morning?" and Hottie said, "I like 'em with one foot in the ground."
     "And four toes!" Doug laughed.
     "She was just donating some food," Hottie admitted, but that tête-à-tête made me stand up straighter and curse my wrinkles.
     For dinner, Doug made a pasta dish and corn on the cob. When lunch was finished, we filled 45 plates with the dinner foods and put them in the warming oven. Doug mopped the kitchen, and that was all he had left to do. Tomorrow, I will go again and perform whatever duties were Crazy's. And did you know? Volunteers (like Crazy was for 6 years) are required to fill out "a book of forms" for background checks and multitudes of other insights. Apparently, as "The Sunday Lady," I was able to just walk in… and stay.