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Albany Life in general Oil Painting Painting Places

Santa and Christmas Sleeping Rough in the Park

People are living in the park known as the Albany Bulb again. On a walk we saw more than a dozen homemade shelters, tree houses and tents hidden away in the brush, this one complete with Christmas tree.

Santa version 6, oil on panel, 8x6
Merry Christmas Santa (version 6), oil on panel, 8x6

People are living in the park known as the Albany Bulb again. On a walk we saw more than a dozen homemade shelters, tree houses and tents hidden away in the brush, this one (below) complete with Christmas tree.

Christmas at the Bulb
Christmas at the Albany Bulb

Although I no longer celebrate Christmas with trees and gifts myself, I always like to get out my Santa (at top of post) that was given to me by a wonderful former student who died not long after in a motorcycle crash. The funny, cheery Santa always reminds me of the value of generosity and the transitory nature of life.

I hope Santa finds the homeless families living in the park and makes their Christmas bright. It can’t be much fun camping out in the mud, pouring rain and wind we’ve been having.

And I hope all of you are having a wonderful winter holiday too!

7 replies on “Santa and Christmas Sleeping Rough in the Park”

Thanks for this touching post, Jana. These are sad times in their lives. I worked with the homeless for 18 years and I still marvel at each person I met: the strength and endurance, the determination to find a way to deal with the many challenges in life, the concern for one another, and such spirit. I hope some children there enjoy looking at that tree.
annie

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My son worked for several years running a group home for about 20 formerly homeless mentally ill men and women in Berkeley. If only there was more funding for the kind of support they need to keep them safe and off the streets. Jana

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I worry about homeless people too – and here it is especially dangerous not to have a warm place to go at night. Just dropping by to say how much I enjoy following your art and life, and to wish you a happy new year.

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Thanks Sherry, I really appreciate your visits and thoughtful comments and seeing your work, too. And I enjoy getting your GoodReads reviews in my updates from them. I hope you survived the blizzards safe and sound! Jana

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Thanks for the photo and story of one side of life for the battlers in our towns and cities. Yesterday we pondered on the story of the escape to Egypt and realized that this ‘holy’ family were part of the refugee story that is an on-going one in our world today.

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