I took my friend Ray to Peanut Farm in Saint Kilda one Sunday evening.
The sky was blue as we caught the 96 tram to the Luna Park stop.
As usual, a crowd of people was queued up for free food. The meals are supplied by Father Bob, and they’re delicious.
We were halfway down the queue when suddenly a shower poured down, and we were caught in the rain.
There were about 50 people there, including the volunteers serving the food. There were a few tables and chairs set up inside a tent, but it was not big enough to accommodate us all. So the early birds sat inside the tent, and we late ones had to wait in the rain for food.
Luckily, after we had been served, the shower stopped. We could eat inside the tent now: most of the crowd had left immediately after eating, because they were afraid the shower would fall again at any moment.
It’s better to stay dry in the cold winter weather, especially for homeless people, because we do not have a proper place to take a hot shower and change our clothes. We spend the night either on the street, in an abandoned building, or in the Salvos Cafe.
The Avalon clothing van came at 7pm, later than usual, because of the rain. That night nobody came to get the free clothes, except for Ray. He needed an extra jacket. I didn’t get anything, because I have no place to store any extra clothes.
We caught the tram back to the city and I went inside a building at 206 Bourke Street to use the free Wifi. On the way back to Salvos cafe, where I sleep at night, it started raining again.
The weather changes so fast in Melbourne: one moment sunny, the next moment raining. Sunny, then suddenly raining again. When you have no home, you can’t ignore the weather.
Photo by Erik Witsoe on Unsplash.