Ah, Florida... a sunny place for shady people; at least that's how I've heard it. People tend to think of the homeless as ragged beggars sitting on park benches drunk, with vacant eyes and defeated postures. They think of them as losers who don't want to work and are just asking for a handout when they're asked for any small change. We are viewed as stew bums passed out in alleys with a cheap bottle in our hand. While these things do apply to some people, it isn't that way with everyone. I always thought of myself as a country mouse, while the homeless in town were city mice. I have all of my belongings with me and don't have to carry them everywhere with me like they do.

I never considered myself to be homeless. I live in a tent, true. As a matter of fact, I live in a city of tents dubbed "Tent City U.S.A." by the people who live there. I have a mailing address and even a house dog who now has been with me 11 years. Now, I know that tent living isn't for everyone. Living homeless can be dirty. Then there are the drunks and drug addicts who are noisy as hell at times, either partying or fighting, depending on what their poison is that day. An uptown guy or girl would certainly not want to step foot into our world. We are a breed unto ourselves and not even the downtown homeless would be comfortable in our world. We are a society unto ourselves and it takes a special breed of person to fit in.

There are no manicures or pedicures in the woods. There are no hair salons, no fine restaurants, no clubs to dance in. We dance in the woods. We have scruffy beards, our fingernails are dirty and our toenails are more than likely fungal talons. A lot of our grocery shopping is done at the dumpster behind the local grocery store.

There are those of us that don't want to be found for some reason. There is no better way to hide than in the woods. There are those of us with drug and alcohol problems. Every aspect of society has alcoholism and addiction in it. We just stick out more because we are different from a lot of society.

There are also a lot of us, no matter what our story is, that are extremely intelligent and creative. We are writers, poets, artists, cartoonists, comedians and song writers. We work when we can and have expenses such as batteries, soap and laundry. Some of us have dogs, so we have to buy kibble and save for emergencies, such as a trip to the vet.

In "Tent City U.S.A.", we all have our individual camps with our own tent. I live in a two-room tent, with furniture, a solar power system and a color tv. Every night I watch JEOPARDY! with my friend, Fearless, who is one of the smartest people I've ever met. He's almost impossible to beat.

Our rules are simple. Dont steal, don't go into someone's tent when they aren't present or without permission and treat each other like we would want to be treated. There are arguments and occasion violence. When people get drunk and/or high, things and fists get thrown every once in awhile. It's really just part of our life. Most of the time, however, everyone gets along just fine.

There are many stories from the woods; of courage and cowardice, of mistakes and triumphs. We aren't really any different from anyone else on our great planet, we just are a little different to a lot of people here.