No need to get basic with food prep just because a person lives outside, as Ross well knows after nine years without housing. He was preparing steamed sourdough French toast with vanilla apricot crema when I chatted with him at one of the city parks where overnight sheltering is allowed. Ross has lived in the park for the past two years, abiding by the rules and working hard to be a familiar, friendly face to his housed neighbours. He maintains a positive mental frame on his life: “If I consider myself a homeless person, then Bylaw is my persecutor and my prison guard. If I consider myself to be living outside, then I’m not packing up for Bylaw, I’m packing up for the rain.” The Canadian Armed Forces vet with a degree in psychology was well-prepared for outdoor survival by his time serving overseas. But he does have very fond memories of a period living in a “luxury homeless situation” in Victoria, in a storage complex where the landlord appreciated a quiet, tidy tenant occupying an old office at the site and providing a nighttime presence.