Monday Tommy and I drove to Hermann to buy tires for Tommy's truck. It was a beautiful day and I wanted to take photos of the Fall foliage and of the little village like town of Hermann. As soon as we arrived at the station, I got out of the truck, grabbed my camera and my suitcase of a purse and took off to photograph life in another town.
Hermann is a small German community on the Missouri river. People built their homes in layers on the rolling hills that surround the river.
I started walking and soon came to a rock wall trying to keep one third of Hermann at bay. Houses are stacked one on top of the other in a hodge podge manner. The road twists and turns among the houses appearing and disappearing at will. Nearly every home has a flower garden and an empty upstairs.
Their lifestyle is a different life than the one I live. My mind was filled with the 'something shiny syndrome' and I was off in my own little world. I walked up and down streets snapping photos. It was around eight a.m. and people were still inside their homes getting ready for the day. A light would click off, a door slam and a car cranking was the background music for the first hour of the morning.
This photo doesn't do justice to the landscape. Behind the church, climbing the hill is another row of houses up higher with a street or a yard to share. Comparing it to a jig saw puzzle is not the right description, although at the time that was vibe I received. While I was delighted by the scenery I knew I would last living in Hermann a month or two at the most. I am used to a country lifestyle. It suits me now. For years it was bright lights and big cities. ..not any more. I turned the corner and was on a side street downtown. Shabby chic was the way I would describe that area...run down could be another observation.
I walked this street for about forty minutes. I took photos of a place that in another life I would have loved to have owned. It would have been a bar and grill on the ground floor with pool tables and a place for a band and room to dance. We would have lived upstairs.
He told me he found my purse and took it up to the service station and asked if anyone knew anything about it. My husband said, "That's my wife's purse!! Wasn't she there?" Another four letter word entered my mind because I knew Tommy would be furious. I walked as fast as my knees would let me to the station where the truck and Tommy were waiting. I was right he was mad. . . extremely mad. I took the purse and put it in the truck. He wanted to know how I could walk off and leave my purse for almost an hour and not miss it. Hmmm I did too. That purse never entered my mind. I was lost in a visual story about life in another time. My 'something shiny' was in overdrive and I was enjoying my adventure.
Tommy doesn't understand my mind set, and truthfully I do not understand the way his mind works. He is a fun, logical person. He stays in the present and seldom roams off the reservation.
After knowing each other since we were in 7th grade, you would think we would have accepted our mindsets. We haven't and I don't think we ever will. The other day he asked me what I was thinking about. I said, "the Kennedy assassination". I asked him the same question and he said 'how to fix the lawn mower.'
He is one child out of eleven. I am an only child. He had people to talk to all the time. I created my world in my imagination. I still do. It is one of the reasons I write. My mind is a very busy place on any given day.
"Follow your heart but take your brain (and your purse) with you." I guess for a little while this will be my new 'life quote'. There is a lot to be said for this tidbit of advice. I might as well try and make the most of it. Much love to all..
