A Little Lake We Found
We were puttering around the house yesterday. Mr. FixIt was preparing to put another coat of paint on the man door to the building and I was going through an old tub of papers, photos, and mementos from Colorado. He took a break and checked his phone.
“Hey, here’s a camper someone is selling right here in town. Wanna go see it?”
Always up for a drive and a look/see at a camper, I jumped up and put on my shoes. He got a text from the fella and had read the directions to me. I admit, I was only half listening, but enough to help get us there. We headed out and finally found the first turn off. For some reason, I didn’t think we were supposed to drive so far out that road. We are talking a single lane, dirt road with mud holes and rocks and no cell service.
I was just about ready to give up when Mr. FixIt looked at his phone.
“Well, would you look at that…I have three bars!”
We were high on a hill by this time, so I stopped right there and got my own phone out. I looked at Google maps and could see where we were. We weren’t anywhere. I mean…we weren’t on any road that was on the map. I switched to satellite and…bingo! The road magically appeared! I ran my finger backwards, looking for landmarks. Then, I headed forward and found the next two turns. Yes…you read that right. Two more back roads. I was beginning to hear banjos!
Once we had it in our heads which direction to go, we set off again. The road was getting more primitive with high spots and ruts, but not a real problem for my truck. I had four wheel drive if I absolutely needed it. Suddenly, we came to an intersection that looked like a three-pronged pitchfork with the left prong bent out at a 90 degree angle. I stopped in the center.
“I think we need to keep going straight and bear to the right!” Mr. FixIt said.
Now, I don’t have any sense of direction. Unless there are mountains to the west like Denver, or the sun is setting, I’m pretty much useless. So, imagine my husband’s dismay when I said, “Nope, we need to go down there.”
“Down there” was a dogleg turn onto a steep road winding down into the shadows of the dense canopy of trees. Mr. FixIt was the one hearing banjos now. But, the man DID say “You’ll find me down at the bottom of the hill.” And, by golly…this was going down the hill!
We twisted and turned and squeezed past the trunks of downed trees that were sawed off. Down, down, down…till, finally…Mr. FixIt said, “I can see cut grass down there!” Sure enough, we came around a turn and there was the back end of a camper sticking out of a metal canopy cover. There was a man with two big dogs. He gave us a wave and I knew we were there. It took us forty-five minutes from home to go maybe 15 miles by road…but not four miles as the crow flies.
There’s something about people who live that far off the grid. Although he had electric and water and septic, he lived in a small manufactured shed he had turned into a cabin. The most expensive thing out there was the cover over the camper. People like that live out there for a reason. They like the peace and quiet away from people. But, this guy obviously liked to talk and he met his match when it comes to Mr. FixIt.
It literally wasn’t five minutes till they figured out they both knew several people. Some Mr. FixIt worked with, one who’s a dear friend of a friend, and another we actually graduated from high school with. Even out in the boonies, we know people. We knew right off, the camper wasn’t for us. But we obliged our host with some polite conversation and talked about places we’ve been and things we’ve seen. He kept the dogs in a kennel, thank goodness.
After a respectable bit of time had passed, we started the Appalachian goodbye ritual. There’s the first announcement.
“Well, we’d best be going.” Followed by a couple more stories. Then, we managed to move a few feet in the general direction of the truck and followed with the second announcement.
“Well, we sure have enjoyed chatting with you. Thank you for sharing you’re beautiful place here.” That’s when the history of the property gets told and we heard about the last two or three owners. “There was a cabin here once that burned. The fella lived in the chicken coop after that.” We’ve made it within ten feet of the truck now. Finally, phase three of the departure ensued.
“Oh, my gosh…look at the time! We really need to scoot and let you get back to what you were doing.” Mr. FixIt shared he’d been in the middle of painting the man door when we decided to come see the camper. This initiated an 8-10 minute discussion of how hard it’s getting to do those kinds of jobs. “It’s hell getting old.”
Finally, the last goodbye.
“Welp…we gotta go!” And, off we went in the truck, waving as we bounced down the rocky drive and headed back up the steep and narrow gravel road that lead us back to civilization. As we drove home, we allowed that was a fine excursion and we’d have to tell the kids about these hidden roads for their Jeep rides. I’m really glad we got to meet this fella. He told us sometimes he goes two weeks without seeing another soul. He was good company and I’m glad we could spend some time.
Honestly, there is never a dull moment with this man of mine…and I wouldn’t change a thing about him. Life is a joy!
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“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV