This is Lowell. He’s homeless, which is an adventure every day just to survive.
I encourage him to write, because it’s one of his passions. He’s good at it, and he’s poetic. A true thinker. And that’s often his problem. He thinks too much, and gets stuck in his own mind.

Even though he’s homeless, Lowell is thoughtful, funny, caring, and always willing to help others. It always amazes me how homeless people will give you their last dollar, scarf, gloves, or other gifts.
One morning Lowell was wet after the sprinklers were turned on downtown at 6am. He’d been asleep and got drenched but he didn’t complain. He joked about having upscale property on Hedge Row.

Everytime I see him he brings me his tattered notebook and shows me a poem or story. Today he’s my guest blogger, here.

Finally, Lowell is published. Send him your comments.

There’s no better trails!
Ive worn my Salomon trail runners ragged across mountains in Latin America and Colorado. Today they got me through the 15k “fun run” with ease.

I’ve passed up Nikes, New Balance and even those intriguing newtons which, are tempting I must admit. The colors are way cool. But I love my lanyards! I hate tying shoes or thinking about loose laces over rocks and dirt.
I had a blast today and remembered my faithful Salomons at the Creede Mountain run in a very steep mining town with massive elevation.

My thoughts today:

Mile 1: I love my shoes
mile 2, the sun shone brilliantly over the lake.
Mile 3, a runner passing mentioned brownies at the turnaround. Mile 5, where are the freakin brownies? (cranky)
Mile 6: aggghhhhhhhh (ate 3)
Mile 7: major euphoric running high
Mile 8: I’m really going to do this!
15k in the woods is like twice that on the road
Mile 8.8 climbed a hill. Attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets! Stung everywhere. Head, butt, calf, arms. Ouch! Firefighter tried to help and got stung too.

Lots of pain running to finish. All kinds of thoughts swirl through your head. I recalled the time a girl stopped me in the street one day and said ” I notice you’re wearing Salomons. God wants you to be like him and seek wisdom instead of your own knowledge.” wow.
That was a great memory. Thirsty. Happy. Delirious. Still following a girl firefighter from Austin. Mile 10: torturous finish up a stairwell resembling Macchu Picchu.

What??????
Masochists.

Doctors greeted me with benadryl at the top. Drank a fat tire at 1030a with other runners.

Great race! Painful race! I need new shoes. This was their last race. Salomon, send me a size 8 before I go online and order them!

So we laced up our shoes, or in one homeless runners case, cowboy boots, and I challenged them to a run downtown. We raced past police officers and pedestrians and we ran leisurely past other homeless people and 2 more joined our group of runners.
Running builds endorphins. It alters your body chemistry immediately. If you’re depressed, run. If you’re on a diet,mor not, the weigtt you want to be, or not, 6, 60, or 100, just run. Try it. Run a block or a mile. Run with the kids! Running is about movement.
Even if you’re not a runner. Just step outside, breathe in the sunshine, inhale.
There’s nothing more moving than combining my two passions. The people on the street and running. With the homeless, we tell them; finish strong. Life is a series of peaks and valleys but its about pushing through the hard times.
Come join me And help inspire lives!
Downtown Dallas Sunday mornings at 9.

The kids have been having a blast, meeting volunteers from across the country, delivering bears, being served breakfast by the FEMA guys in the walgreens parking lot.

My run this morning was different than any other, down a street lined with rubble. One house said: “mom is with Jesus and Johnny cash”. Another said: “you loot, we shoot!”

Tomorrow we go fishing in the ozarks but today there’s still a lot of work to be done.