Living on the 1953 Art Bus

Imagine traveling the country in a bus that has a Volkswagen van for a topper… Imagine traveling the country with the idea of bringing art to everyone… That is what one family of four is doing.

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Heather Platen told me that her family has been all over the country on the bus. Keep in mind, this is not your average bus. The lower half is a 1953 Chevrolet bus purchased in South Dakota. The 1969 VW van was purchased and added to the top in New Mexico. They have also been to places like Vermont,  Baltimore and New York City, just to name a few stops.

I ran into the family of four when they decided to make a pit stop in the small community of Beechgrove, Tennessee. On board is Heather, her husband LeRoy Herr and their daughters ages one and five. Together, they take their artwork into communities far and wide.

The bus is self-sustainable and Heather commented that they went off the grid to be in total control of their life. “We were able to provide everything that we needed and more by reducing our need for income,” Heather told me. She went on to state, “By living a more simple life we were able to access that ‘extra’ that we wanted to provide for our kids.”

LeRoy said that he likes for the bus to be a conversation starter that leads to important topics like self-sustainability, monetary slavery and more. Meanwhile, Heather talks being creative with art. More photos below. 

Listen to the complete interview below...

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Remember - No Sidelines

No Sidelines: If I were to put his speech into written word, it would illegible.

Perhaps it was a stroke that led to his way of communicating, but the cause is not important. However, it is important that he has not given up... ever.

What is motivational about this man is that he refuses to sit on the sidelines for the remainder of his life. He pushes a shopping cart, struggling to walk up hills while collecting cans to sell as scrap metal.

"You know I'm back like I never left
Another sprint, another step
Another day, another breath
Been chasing dreams,
but I never slept
I'm feeling glorious"

- Glorious by Macklemore

---

Just be yourself today

Be yourself, regardless of who others believe you should be.

Perhaps you're a dreamer? So dream.
Maybe you are a doer? Go and do. 
Are you a fixer? Start fixing.

Be yourself.

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." —Dr. Seuss

The Escape

I took this photo in 2014 and it remains one of my favorites. 

The look in his eyes is of a faraway place that I cannot relate. His appearance is scattered as are his thoughts. 

He stood outside of a downtown Nashville skyscraper at midnight and he told me that we were standing in a desert. 

His sandy blonde hair floated in the breeze as he went on to tell me about his spaceship and then pointed to the window of a nearby business. Inside was a computer that had a screen saver of a commercial jet on it. He said that was his spaceship.

“This is a man in need. His fear is naked and obvious, but he's lost. . . Somewhere in his darkness. His eyes wide and bleak and tortured.” ― E.L. James

Mom and the boys together for Christmas

While mom is not always there… when she is you know it. Her sons see past her homeless appearance and go straight to her heart. Thank you to those who helped make this happen, this mother and her two boys are together at Christmas.

She joked with them on the food that was donated, “What are you guys going to eat over the next five days – this is all mine.” The kids would laugh, “Nu-uhh mom – those are my Christmas Cakes (Little Debbie Christmas Trees).” The mom would then start laughing with a smile that could light the moon followed by the boys laughter.

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Again, thank you to everyone who helped to put this homeless mother in a local hotel to be with her two boys. A huge thank you to Mrs. Carol Cooper Schroer's class at Siegel Elementary and Andrea Hyde Nelson and her small group for all the gifts, food and gift cards. Needless to say, this mom pictured and her boys are set for the next week for sure!

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The kids, ages 10 and 11, are some of the smartest, funniest, playful boys I have ever met. They are polite and outgoing. They live in The Good Shepard’s Home, which is a great place.

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"A simplified Christmas isn't about circumstances as much as it is about focus." - Ann Voskamp, author of the New York Times Bestseller, One Thousand Gifts: "A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are"

Overcoming a past life

He was born blind in his left eye, he suffered a major car wreck while a teenager, his mother and father left him when he was a kid and he was addicted to cocaine… but is now clean and working to change the course of his life.

David Potter was born in Murfreesboro, TN and grew up in neighboring Woodbury. He spent his younger days chasing cocaine, but has been clean for 10 years now. However, a sketchy past with felonies on his record keep him from obtaining a decent job to support both he and his girlfriend. Together, the two live together in the woods.

Potter suggested that a lack of both a mother and a father growing up likely helped to contribute to his problems. The 42 year old said that he was raised by his grandmother who did the best that she could.

Below is a short 4 min interview with Potter that was recorded in his camp.

“The greatest minds are like film, they take the negatives and develop themselves in darkness...” ― Brandi L. Bates, Remains To Be Seen

A pre-arranged marriage and the life that could have been...

JoAnne Skidmore lives in Murfreesboro, Tennessee but that could have changed when she was only 9 years old.

Skidmore, who was born in Bangkok, ran the risk of being flown to Saudi Arabia at age 9 for a pre-arranged marriage. Of course, that would have changed the entire trajectory of her life. 

In the interview below, Skidmore talks about the idea of a pre-arranged marriage as a form of human trafficking. She suggested that her step father in Florida would have likely benefited financially had the marriage occurred.  

Below is a 13 min interview with Skidmore: 

She hides her scars beneath her clothing

Surrounded by trees adorned with thorns in Murfreesboro, Tennessee stands 19 year old Crystal Chaney. The Alabama native is maybe 100 pounds on a day she has eaten a full meal. Crystal and her boyfriend David are homeless. - SCROLL DOWN FOR AUDIO

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Crystal has burn scars on her arms, hands and legs from when her father allegedly poured scalding hot coffee on her. 

You often hear stories about people who have overcome massive obstacles in life, but seldom do you meet the folks who have. Crystal has one of those stories and is on her way to overcoming her past.

She never made it past the 10th grade in school, life was just too much at times and education was definitely the last thing on her mind. She told me that coming home to an alcoholic mother each day was one of the many obstacles she faced. Of course, that is after a day in school where she was bullied by others due to her appearance.

On first glance you wouldn’t realize anything was wrong with Crystal, but her coat and pants are hiding the scars that likely haunt her at night.

At 11 months of age Crystal was hit with trauma that resulted in multiple skin grafts over her childhood years. She told me that her father was mad at her mom one night and poured scalding hot coffee all over her. At the time, Crystal was in a walker.

She told me that her father was sentenced to prison and she has not talked to him… ever. Keep in mind she was only 11 months of age when she received the burns due to the hot coffee.

Letters were sent to her from her father, but her mother was said to have kept the mail never allowing Crystal to see it.

Today, Crystal and her boyfriend David are on the search for a job. Needless to say, that employment could not come soon enough so that the couple can get an apartment that will allow for them to stay out of the cold this winter.

Below is a short interview by Scott Walker with Crystal (4 MIN and 47 SEC):

“No matter what, I would never let the people who wanted me to break see how much damage they had inflicted.”  ― Rachel L. Schade, Silent Kingdom

Life is chaos

He is homeless and a U.S. Veteran. For many, life once home equals chaos.

"Soldiers, when committed to a task, can't compromise. It's unrelenting devotion to the standards of duty and courage, absolute loyalty to others, not letting the task go until it's been done."- John Keegan

Daniel's Heroin after the accident

He has been clean from heroin for 11 months now, but currently lives on the streets. However, the most positive part about his story is the fact that he is indeed clean.

Daniel lives in Murfreesboro and for the most part, keeps to himself. His first taste of heroin came a couple of years after a car accident.

It was the car accident that landed him on prescription pain pills. When the doctor stopped writing prescriptions for the pills, he said that he needed to continue… so he did, eventually with heroin.

Daniel’s Story (Below) 6 MIN and 50 SEC:

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The violent memories we hold onto

The descriptions of the Vietnam War from a homeless man sitting on a park bench will give you nightmares, yet what he described is what he saw in the thick of it at age 21.

“I had to kill women and children because the North Vietnamese women were armed fighters and their babies were strapped to their front…” As he talked you could see that pictures as vivid as yesterday were running through his mind.

“They skinned men alive if they caught em’ – can you imagine what that would feel like,” he asked while talking about the pain that was endured by U.S. Troops. As he continued I could imagine the torture and how so many lost their lives while in Vietnam. He went on to describe more of what he saw, “Sometimes, they’d nail em’ to an upside down cross in the woods for other troops to find, alive.”

No one encouraged him to speak of the horrific things he saw or to stir those memories, he wanted to get it out of his mouth and probably his head. Sometimes, it is important to allow those with tragedy in their past to let it out. Sometimes, it is important to remain silent and to remember your words may mean little if anything.

In Vietnam: 

Communist Hồ Chí Minh was once quoted as saying, “You will kill ten of us, we will kill one of you, but in the end, you will tire of it first.”

Hồ Chí Minh was not always his name. He was born as Nguyễn Sinh Cung, but later decided to go with a name that had meaning, Hồ Chí Minh, which means "He Who has been enlightened," became his title in 1941.

He was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader and later the President (1945–69) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). He also helped to form the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.

One execution for every one hundred and sixty residents was the way Hồ Chí Minh moved to reform North Vietnam in the 1950’s. He called it land reform and rent reduction. However, it was the simple slaughter of innocent people. This… this is who U.S. Troops were up against in the Vietnam War.

Florida or Bust

He sat quietly holding a sign and if anyone handed him anything, he would politely thank them. As we talked it was obvious that he was well spoken as he told me about two young ladies who stopped and gave him blankets to use for a warm night’s sleep.

“I want to get to Florida,” he told me with a stutter. “I got off the bus in Murfreesboro, but I need to get to Interstate 75,” he explained.

He then described how he has worked all of his life at day labor companies suggesting, “Because I like to travel.” A social security check is deposited into his account each month, but he does not have an ATM card or checks. “I will set all of that up when I get to Florida,” talking about how he wants to find somewhere to live where he will be warmer.

“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.” - Matsuo Basho, Japanese Poet (1644-1694)

Don't close your eyes

Nashville, TN...

“Do not avert your eyes.
It is important
that you see this.
It is important that you feel
this.” ― Kamand Kojouri, writer

Faith and Humanity

A photo of faith, humanity and mankind... living on the streets.

“For it is in giving that we receive.” — Saint Francis of Assisi

Nashville, 2017

Tough Times

When you are homeless, it is easy to get knocked down. Most recently, he said that his hours were cut at the bar where he works in Nashville.

"Tough times never last, but tough people do." - Robert H. Schuller

Out of the house at 18, no exceptions

He has been on the streets for about 8 years. He said that his mother told him when he turned 18 he is out of here and on his own, which he has been.

Outgoing, kind and spirited are the words I would use to describe his personality. He was excited to be alive, despite his circumstances.

Jobs come and go and don’t mean much to many people on the street. It is a way to make enough money to get to the next chapter, not something that defines us. However, his most recent job earned him enough money to buy warm weather gear from Bass Pro Shops, which he is wearing in this photo. That is a good thing because recently, he has been without a sleeping bag or tent.  

His home was a metal bench in downtown Nashville. He had a backpack of clothing and personal possessions. But, that changed on Thanksgiving Day.

Now, he has a tent and a sleeping bag that will greet the temperatures this winter without an issue. It also means he will be able to visit the downtown library during the day because he can leave his backpack in his tent. What some may not realize, the downtown library now limits what size of bag you can bring in and his backpack broke that rule as he had a hiking backpack.

“There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why.” - William Barclay, Scottish Author, (1907-1978)

Two tents, not one

I told her that I may have one tent left, even though two people were in need of a tent and she was one of them.

When we got to my car... I found that I had two tents left and three blankets - just enough to fill the need. You should have seen her smile when she got to walk back to the others eating a Thanksgiving meal and give that second tent to the other person who needed it along with the blankets.

"There is a lot that happens around the world we cannot control. We cannot stop earthquakes, we cannot prevent droughts, and we cannot prevent all conflict, but when we know where the hungry, the homeless and the sick exist, then we can help." - Jan Schakowsky, U.S. Representative for Illinois

On the banks of the Cumberland River

He said to me on Thanksgiving Day... "I'm not homeless, I'm just home, less." 

His view is the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville. 

"This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this is my
Temporary home."

-Temporary Home by Carrie Underwood

She left her dad and now lives in the woods of Nashville

From Louisville, Kentucky she headed to Nashville, Tennessee with her new boyfriend. She is 37 years old and her significant other told me, “She was tired of her daddy taking all but $100 of her disability check.”

"You don’t know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” — Bob Marley (via BerkLee’s mom, the parent of a down syndrome child – quote posted on “Mighty Proud Media”)

Thanksgiving Day in Nashville: He helped to hand out sleeping bags and tents

Thanksgiving Day in Nashville: After serving in the National Guard he was discharged honorably. He then decided to hit the road and so the journey from California to Nashville, Tennessee was met head on.

He is 23 and homeless. He was adopted at a young age after being removed from his birth mother… it was a story that he was not ready to share.

While making multiple trips to my car to retrieve more sleeping bags and tents for homeless at “Gobble Gobble Give,” he said, “Today, I don’t feel homeless and it feels really good helping.”

The young man helped me until all the tents and sleeping bags were humbly accepted by those living on the street. Some told us, "I don't need one, but he does [pointing at another homeless person at the event]."

After helping, he got a sleeping bag and tent for himself. However, he first made sure that those who needed one had one.

The 23 year old again stated, "Today was a good day - best morning ever, I did not feel homeless."

At Gobble Gobble Give 2017, David Montanbeau told me, “3,348 Meals were served, 1000+ Articles of Clothing given away, 3000+ Hygiene Kits were given away, 74 Haircuts, 28 Showers and 5 Complete Makeovers.” Not to mention, 31 left with a new sleeping bag, 8 left with a new tent and 3 left with new blankets.