Some of you may be wondering about our ‘rough sleeper of the copse’. I met friend for post Christmas lunch today, swapped pressies (a nice scarf and some smellies) and got an update. Ten days before Christmas there had been one very cold night – for some reason it’s always several degrees colder in the empty but beautiful countryside east of Exeter – so friend and husband were quite concerned. Rough sleeper hadn’t been seen since the original meet. In fact friend was glad that husband had seen the tents, to confirm that he hadn’t been a figment of her crumpet-stupored-post-work-sofa-snooze, uh, sit down, particularly as the police hadn’t been able to find him.

News came that the hunt were meeting. Friend has had her garden trampled several times by arrogant pink jacketed t*****s, and their packs of hounds, so knew there was a fair chance they would bulldoze their way through the copse as well. Rough sleeper’s camp wouldn’t stand a chance, so they strolled across to check and warn him.

Beside the camp there were a couple of bikes which explained why he hadn’t been seen, obviously quick ins and outs were possible. They were greeted by a young man in his early twenties, but a different one, equally friendly and happy to chat. One of the tents was firmly zipped shut, presumably containing rough sleeper number one.  Number two was grateful for the information and said they were about to move on anyway. A bit later they were seen wheeling their bikes and backpacks across the motorway bridge, off to pastures new.

Questions still remain. Who are they and why they choose to live/travel as they do? It’s a lot less appealing than biking around France picking grapes or backpacking in some tropical beach paradise. If you are homeless but have company, perhaps the countryside is a safer choice than the inner city. It could be some sort of self imposed endurance test, a rite of passage. They could have rode off to join the Occupy people, https://lucidgypsy.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/occupy-st-peters/

I much prefer to think of them spending Christmas in the bosom of their families, but at least we know they are okay.