Under St. Francis Drive, an unofficial steward
Man helps keep new Acequia Trail Underpass, his temporary home, ‘nice and clean’
Just before 7 a.m., Rhoady Howe lifts the bandanna covering his turquoise eyes, shuffles out from under a striped blanket and laces up a pair of shoes to clean his home: a 10-foot wide, nearly 150-footlong tunnel speckled with light near the corner of St. Francis Drive and Cerrillos Road.
Howe, who says he has been homeless for three years, has taken it upon himself to clean the Acequia Trail Underpass, which opened a few months ago. Every morning, he observes the space, collecting beer cans, pieces of tissue, needles, razors, bottle caps and “a variety of anything else you might find in the park,” into plastic bags he finds — or, sometimes, into his bare hands.
“It’s part of the morning routine,” said Howe, adding that he’s been cleaning like this for years, in every place he has occupied. “It’s a great way to get the blood pumping.”
It might not be the optimum way to live, and there’s no guarantee Howe will be in this tunnel in a week. But for now (and actually for quite some time), he has treated the area as if it were, well, his own.
“It’s kept so nice and clean most of the time that seeing trash gives me a natural desire — maybe an OCDtype thing — to clean it up,” he said.
When the sun pours into the tunnel and birds begin their morning song, Howe knows it’s time to start the day. He packs up his blankets, puts his bag somewhere safe, and starts to scout the ground around him. On Wednesday, the first thing he spotted was a lightly smoked cigarette.
“For me, that’s a beauty,” he said, holding the nub of tobacco in the palm of his hands and putting it in his pocket for later. Walking down the pathway, Howe finds a cap of a syringe needle, torn toilet paper, several straw wrappers and a broken beer bottle. All are deposited into their proper place.
Howe — who sometimes is seen pushing a Trader Joe’s shopping cart that he found in the park — has a keen eye, always noticing bits of paper, torn plastic and birds flying overhead.
His acute attention to detail is perhaps what brought
him to the underpass.
“I tend not to hear the traffic sounds, and I try to listen more to the ravens,” he said, adding that the sound of cars at night doesn’t bother him. He said he enjoys pure silence between 1:30 and 4 a.m.
A city spokesman said the workers clean more than 150 miles of trails around Santa Fe, including the underpass area, which they attend to at least once a week. But Howe’s efforts come in handy, if only because the tunnel is a prime new addition to the city’s transportation system.
The long-awaited underpass, which links Railyard Park and the New Mexico School for the Deaf, cost the city $6 million and took more than a decade to complete. Upon its opening, pedestrians, avid cyclists and commuters celebrated the pathway for its safety and convenience.
Its cleanliness, even months after the opening, is welcomed by those who use it.
Eli Nazarski worked as a landscape subcontractor for the project. He said he believes the primary reason the underpass stays so clean is thanks to “a friendly homeless man who pushes a red cart around.” That person? Rhoady Howe. He is upfront about his daily life away from the tunnel: get free water from McDonald’s, if workers don’t turn him away; panhandle; walk up and down Cerrillos and through the park; get some beers; eat some food; pick up more trash in various areas, mainly around the tunnel; “and do it all over again.”
Howe may have to leave the tunnel at some point; Santa Fe police spokesman Greg Gurulé said those who sleep on city property are “moved along” by officers, adding that consequences depend on circumstances.
“That’s an interesting area,” Gurule said. “Some trails belong to the state, so you really have to know who owns what.”
Howe said he would like people to recognize the systemic issue of homelessness and confront the misconceptions.
“People think that it’s a choice to run around and drink and not work,” he said, adding most passers-by pretend not to see him.
“They don’t like to be reminded of the precarious situation — that sometimes it’s just the luck of the draw and that this can happen to anyone,” he continued. “They want to believe this is something I brought on myself, so they can feel more secure.”
Prior to coming to New Mexico, Howe said he worked as a paid political fundraiser in cities such as Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. He said he’s been married for 14 years, participated in music production during the ’90s, plays the guitar and has had years of sales experience.
“I lost my job. It’s complicated,” he said, adding that around the same time, he also lost several loved ones and was weighed down by a series of other misfortunes. “It’s hard to keep yourself afloat when you’ve had so much loss.”
Nevertheless, over the years, the San Francisco native with faded tattoos said he has tried to give back to his community and serve those around him.
Even if his efforts aren’t noticed by a lot of people. Even if they’re as simple as removing trash.
For Howe — who hopes to get off the streets and find stable housing soon — the tunnel is an insulated, temperate haven located close to the St. Elizabeth Shelter. Beneath all those passing cars, he finds moments of peace.
“It just feels safe to me. The beautification project makes me feel better — just seeing people take care of stuff,” he said. “There’s a lot of effort to make it nice. You can see that in the gardening. People putting in effort to make a place better is a call to action for people who care.”