By Ian Harvey
Stephen Brauswetter’s nose is dripping from the cold as he trudges across the snow with his trophies in hand, a cup of Tim Hortons, extra-large, three loaves of whole grain bread and four boxes of pretzel treats.
“You don’t have to heat these up,” he smiles, his grin parting the shock of grey and white beard that seems to envelop his face.
Brauswetter, 53, has been living in Birchcliff for two years come this April.
Lives in the Quarry
Most might dismiss the six-foot tall, rake thin man with the grimy clothes and weathered skin as just another homeless man but that would be wrong.
He’s not homeless at all; in fact, he has a perfectly good home.
It’s a tent backed up with some tarps and a rubber waterproof liner tucked away at the west side of the swamp which separates the Quarry from the last few metres of Gerrard Street East where it and turns into Clonmore Road.
Sure, it’s a little chilly come winter, he says, but he’s okay.
Unique perspective on ice storm
“That ice storm was something,” he shrugs, his breath hanging in clouds as we talk. “I didn’t think we were gonna make it. But I got a kerosene heater and I get it up to 60 degrees in there.”
For nearly two years now, Brauswetter has been a fixture in the Quarry. Nodding to the dog walkers and others traipsing through the trails but keeping mostly to himself, except to bum the odd smoke.
“I have had the social workers come down and talk to me and the police were checking on me after I fell and cut my head,” he says, holding up his treasure. “And the supermarket throws out food. Look, I got these today. There’s nothing wrong with them but they’re throwing it out. I get a lot of food this way.”
Stop and ask him how he’s doing and he’s a willing conversationalist, speaking firmly and clearly in a strong voice.
To some he’s scary, to others he’s a man in need; a man who has lost his way. He doesn’t wave his arms around and he doesn’t yell and scream though some who have encountered him say he’s come across as aggressive.
I’ve never seen him that way but then Brauswetter appears and disappears like a ghost among the bushes of the Quarry.
I can see how some, especially women walking their dogs alone, would be fearful. He is respectful of space, however, doesn’t engage unless engaged and has never threaten me or my dogs. Nor has he ever once complained about his situation. Quite the contrary. He seems thrilled to be living in the Quarry.
Stephen Brauswetter
Brauswetter’s story
His back story is a little murky but that’s to be expected given his circumstances.
Originally from the Oshawa area he was working in construction and renovations, he said, and then he was kicked out of the home he was renting on Kelvin Ave just west of Shopper’s World in spring 2012.
“They said they had family coming and they didn’t have room for me,” he says. Pushed for a little more information, it was a notice under the Landlord Tenant Act that the landlord intended to use the home for family members a permitted cause to terminate tenancy.
What happened or why he was evicted by the Sheriff’s Office is not clear but Brauswetter makes passing reference to the owner, a real estate agent, who complained the home was full of mold and had to be gutted.
“He didn’t know what he was talking about,” insists Brauswetter. “You can just clean that up with Lysol.”
Before that he was down on Coxwell Ave. He has family, he nods, brothers and sisters but they’re in apartments and haven’t got room. He couldn’t get a place when he asked but he’s not too clear on when and who he talked to.
People are nice
He likes the space at the Quarry. In the summer there are red-tailed hawks and critters of all kinds, sometimes deer, sometimes coyotes. People are nice enough too.
“One guy drops by and gives me $20 once in a while,” he says matter-of-factly.
Nor is he alone. Last year there was a couple living in a tent and “some other guy on his own” but their tents have long collapsed or were abandoned as winter approached.
“They keep wanting me to go out West to become a B.Cer,” he smiles, yellowed teeth catching the sun. “They’ve got a lot of immigrants out there. There’s a need for some ceremony and speeches.”
He’s not clear on what he means or who “they” are but it’s something he’s said many times to many people travelling across his patch from all reports.
This day there’s sunshine and gentle wind rustling the frozen branches of the trees and bushes; there’s little traffic noise so you can hear the tinkling of the ice clattering, like Mother Nature’s wind chimes.
The sunlight makes the ice glow like polished silver but it’s a precarious image.
Soon, the sun will set and what precious light and warmth will fade.
Most of Birchcliff will soon be back on full power but Stephen Brauswetter will remain huddled around his kerosene heater, dreaming perhaps of spring.