Day 26, Warmth & Shelter

Today, on Day 26, I'm thankful for warmth and shelter. I think about this quite often as I run in the mornings. I run along a beautiful stretch of our uptown greenway, Little Sugar Creek Greenway. It's really peaceful in the mornings, and there are a lot of things to look at:  the creek that I run along, the wild critters that live along the creek, the great view of the Uptown Skyline, rush hour traffic heading in to town, and the homeless men stirring and getting themselves going for the day. I often see them sleeping in one area when I arrive, clutching their one bag filled with all they own. Later I see them walking along the Greenway, stopping to fill a water bottle at a water fountain, or cleaning themselves in a public restroom. Last night I ran in the evening, knowing that the weather forecast said it's supposed to rain in the two days leading up to my 8k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. I wanted to get in one more run, but it was quite chilly out- around 40 degrees, and I wondered where they were. And today, as predicted, it has rained continuously all day long, in addition to a high that hovered around 43F. And again, I wondered where they were. I know that there are shelters in Charlotte, but I also know that they're often overcrowded, and that there are limits on how long the men and women can stay there. How often do we take warmth and shelter for granted, and complain about our trivially small discomforts? Today, as I think of the men that I run past every other day and wonder where they are right now, I'm thankful for the warmth and shelter that I'm so privileged to have.