The bare branches, not the cold November wind, are driving Michael Higgins out of the hidden urban encampment he?s called home since May. When the leaves fell, he realized that his four-tent compound was in danger of being spotted, so he?s been trying to scrape together enough money for a locker to stow his gear while he spends the winter in an emergency shelter until trees fill out again in spring.
Concealment is the key for Higgins and a few dozen others who live under tents or tarps strung up furtively in obscure corners of Madison?s busy landscape.