Both of us like to travel the back roads. Missouri is full of off the beaten path gravel roads, lakes and ponds. It is nothing unusual for us to make a right or a left turn onto some gravel road we have never driven and keep driving to see where it leads. We did that today. I still do not know where we were exactly...BFE sounds about right. A white country church, with a large cemetery begging to be photographed, appeared on the left side of the road. In hindsight, I wish I had taken a photo of it. We drove on around several bends, up and down hills and talked about how we were sure 'the people who lived out here did not have children because there was no way a school bus could drive these roads in the winter.' We looked at each other and started laughing because we remembered where we live. We raised three daughters on a road that, until recently, seldom had traffic except for the mailman.
We passed several beautiful homes and one place that could belong to an antisocial drug dealer or an unpublished author. "No Trespassing" signs decorated the homemade six foot tall wooden fence. The opening where a gate should have been, was replaced by wire nailed to the fence. On the other side of the fence a long heavy chain was attached to a pit bull; no mailbox was in sight. The tall fence and irate dog blocked most of the view of the home. From a distance it resembled a run down log cabin with cerulean blue curtains. The color of the curtains did not fit the surroundings. There was a "Schindler's List" affect to the property setting, as woodsmoke wafted through the air, the blue curtains and the angry dog were the only signs of life. Slowly we drove down the hill and lost sight of the dubious home.
"Hotel California" was the background music on the radio; after we recognized the song we laughed and sped up. The music fit the surroundings. Fifteen minutes later we were back on the black top and driving toward Fulton. My mind kept going back to the misplaced home and its unseen dwellers. There is a story there waiting to be told. I may never know it, but someone, somewhere knows the facts. I hope they write the story.
Tommy wanted to know if I wanted to stop in Fulton for anything. I thought for a minute and said, "How about checking out Cato's and Maurice's for knee boots?" He was game, so we drove into town. Once in the stores, we saw the first glimpse of the Spring and Summer clothes. To quote Tommy, "This looks like things you wore in the 70's" and it did. The winter clothes are all on discount, allowing a customer to buy two for the price of one.
All winter I have wanted a new pair of knee boots but refused to pay eighty dollars for them. However, the boots were marked down to half price and then an additional 20% off. I tried on a pair and they were what I wanted, fitting perfectly. Tommy told me to go on and get them. He didn't have to say this twice. We were at the counter and I pulled out my debit card to pay. Tommy looked at me and told me to put my card away, "I'm paying" he said and gave me that great Carter smile. I told him that was 'ok' to save his money and I'd use the debit. He said and I quote "No, I want to buy them for you"... that my friends was an 'Ahh Haa moment' for me and confirmed why we have been together for 44 years; it pays to be nice to each other.
The next stop was to buy gas and two lottery tickets. I won $50.00 and Tommy won $10.00. We put the Blazer in drive and headed home fast before something bad happened; things were going too good. It was a great day in our corner of the world. We enjoyed it to the max. Once again life confirmed, that it does not take much to make either of us happy.
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