New Friends

Tuesday, July 15, 2014




This past weekend we took a short day trip down to Lake Wateree, SC. We thought it would be fun to check out a new area of this lovely Palmetto state.... and of course to throw in a line.


No luck.
But if the fish are as big as the hornets flying around this place, the wait will be worth it.


On our way there we drove down some deserted, country back roads.
Nothing for miles and miles...just the way I like it.


I was doing my usual stare-out-the-window-and-daydream when we came to a random stop sign.
Not only did our car stop, but my heart did too.

THIS was staring me right in the face when we stopped at this random stop sign. I just thought it was the coolest truck I've ever seen. I was drawn to it. I did a serious rubber neck and stared this thing down until I couldn't see it anymore. There's a rusty old sign in the front windshield that say's 'OPEN' but I couldn't tell if it was legit. If I had to make an assumption, it was closed and had been for years.


So we continued on to the state park we were planning to check out.


It was cool! Loved all the pine trees. But it was paaacked with families on summer vacation so I kinda sorta wanted to leave. Nothing wrong with that, for the record, it's just when you want peace and quiet...
you want peace and quiet.
Especially after I saw what appeared to be a young 12 year old girl yell at her toddler brother:
GET THE FUCK OVER HERE!

Yeah I'm good.


But, we drove a while to get there so after a couple hours of fishing, hiking, and exploring this Lake Wateree town... I still could not get the image of that rundown produce truck out of my head.

Finally I opened my mouth and said 'Hey Mitch, remember that truck we drove by on our way here?
We need to stop on our way home.'
I just want one photo.


So 27 bug bites and a bag of fritos later, we packed up and were on our way to this truck.


We pulled right in to the empty rundown parking lot and I got my trusty iPhone out, ready for a quick photo shoot. Mitch stayed in the car and left it running, and I hopped out to get my shot.

To my surprise, there were two old African American men lounging in cheap white patio chairs under the shade of a huge pecan tree right around the corner. When they saw me, they abruptly stood up. One got in his old truck and left, and the other came walking over to me, as fast as his walk with a slight limp would allow him.

Usually in situations like this I would feel rude, like I was trespassing on someones private property and invading their space. But when Thomas walked up to me I got the feeling like I was seeing an old friend.

He immediately greeted us and brought us to his produce truck. I had no idea what to say because I wasn't there for produce. Before I could get a word out though, he was saying 'Here, you want a watermelon? I grew these myself in my garden down the road. You want these squash? How about these tomatoes? here take them all.'

In a matter of seconds my arms were full of bright colored fruits and vegetables, stumbling to load them all into my SUV. He wanted to give it all to us for free, but there was no way we could not pay him.


I continuously thanked him and told him how excited I was to eat all this food! I finally broke down and  told him that I really stopped because I wanted a photo of his truck. Not surprisingly he said Oh of course you can take a photo! Take all you want!!

He began to tell me the story of how he got the truck, and he mentioned he bought it in Connecticut. This made me confess that we just moved down here from New Hampshire. He was so surprised and happy when I said that. He was in the Marines and spent quite some time at Pease Air National Guard Base located on the New Hampshire seacoast.

5 minutes into talking he said Come on ya'll, come check out my shop! I looked at him, then at Mitch and thought..what shop? There was a rundown, old dark grey brick building with vines growing around it sitting right around the corner...surely that couldn't be it?

Harrison's Rest Stop.
That is his store that he has owned and operated for years.

I couldn't believe I didn't' see this, but I also couldn't believe what was inside.

We walked into this dark, rustic but classic gas station type store with old shelves of snacks and old coolers full of soda,water, and night crawlers. Hundreds of black and white photos lined the dusty walls from ground to ceiling. The place smelt like an attic, but in a good way. In a way that immediately brought me back to sitting in my Granny's attic on a hot summer day going through old photos and reminiscing.

And that's exactly what we did for the next couple hours. Mr. Tomas Harrison, 83 year old , tall Southern man born in South Carolina but spent most of his life in Connecticut owning a barber shop. He loved to do hair. He taught many people how to do hair and got them licensed. He kept looking at both my hair and Mitch's and in his words 'I can do ya'lls hair. Oh I can do white girl's hair too. I can do it all!'

We inched around the store as he pointed to every photo, showing us all of his successful children, all of his grandchildren in college... This man was beaming with pride. He even showed us an old photo of himself; an extremely handsome young man with a full head of perfectly groomed hair and super high cheek bones.

He told us stories of the Korean war and how his job at one point was to sift through and read all letters sent to the men in the service, to make sure they wouldn't offend any of the soldiers.
Wow.

He showed us the stray cats he loves and feeds I screamed with joy and he even filled a brown paper bag full of fresh pecans from his tall tree he sits under.

I wish I would have taken more photos of the inside of his shop, or even of him. But it was one of those moments where time stopped and nothing else mattered besides our conversation.
My phone was in my pocket and it never came out.


_______________




We made our way outside and Mr.Thomas told me,
'Get on over there now and take your photo before it's too late- The sun's going down!'
He was right. In the midst of our encounter I completely forgot about my beloved truck photo and shadows were starting to take over.

So I ran over and snapped my photo, just before the entire truck was engulfed in shadows.


I walked back over and we exchanged goodbyes, shaking hands and promising to see each other again.

______________________


Driving by this run down truck, you would have never guessed that the kindest old soul awaits you.

It was just one of those days that gives you a swift reminder of how amazing life can be if you just keep an open mind....If you just pay attention to the small things that usually go unnoticed...

You never know what you'll find.





And for the record, that was the best watermelon I've ever had in my life.

14 comments:

  1. Those are the brightest watermelons I've ever seen! Love love love the story. Go back to his truck, take some pics of him and that is national geographic worthy!

    As for the beginning of this post, I had one of "those days" on Sunday. I changed my mind about what I wanted to be doing four times that day, applied for the randomest jobs, and looked at apartments in Ireland. You are totally not alone :) meeting that old guy just put life into perspective doesn't it? Thanks for sharing :)

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    1. I know, aren't they? It was the juiciest watermelon I've ever had. Fruits & Veggies grown in the South are no joke. I wish I had a home with a garden down here :(
      I'm seriously going to go back and ask for a photo with him! He did mention that he never looks good in photos but too bad Mr.Harrison - I'm comin for ya! lol

      Sorry to hear about your rough Sunday. But it's nice to know I'm not alone. haha looking at apartments in Ireland, I was looking at homes in the Redwood trees in Northern California yesterday, does that count?! Our lovely apartment complex management decided yesterday to charge us 25/month for 'valet trash' service aka someone coming to pick up trash we leave outside our door a few times a week. We never utilized this service and they told us 'too bad'. That pissed me off so bad, I immediately started looking else where to rent or move but realized we just renewed our lease for another year...so...kinda stuck until June :(
      I, too, applied for jobs that I now read the description and go, what the hell? lol UGH! Life!

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    2. Hahaha the Redwoods sound amazing that would be so fun. That was rude of your apartment complex :( I would have started looking too. It's so cute though!!! hehe

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  2. These are the serendipitous moments that keep my wandering spirit coming back for more. My journal pages are LINED with experiences like this from places all over and it is so exciting and just as inspiring to read similar experiences from a kindred spirit! Living vicariously through you and this story! Keep em comin!

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    1. Love that you follow along girlfriend! You should publish some of those journal entries...I wanna hear all about them!

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  3. It is refreshing to read about young people respecting and taking time out for our elders.
    We can learn a lot from each other.
    Great post

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    1. Thank you! Yes, we really can learn a lot from each other. I thrive off that ideology.

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  4. I absolutely love your photos and writing. I'm so happy to have found a new blog to read! I can totally relate to the whole 20-something thing. It's such an awesome time of our lives and yet it's so unsettled! That's partially why I love reading other blogs so much; it's nice to know we can all relate to each other's experiences :) Hope today is better!

    Em

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    1. Thank you Em! I'm excited to follow your blog as well. I often wonder what life on the West Coast is like - now I can live vicariously! ;) I agree completely, it's so nice to know I'm not alone in this tornado of a decade...

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  5. HEY, HEY, HEY, don't get down..... Take it from an ol' guy (41), those people that you think are living the '20-something' dream life are probably looking at you and Mitch 'Bubby' with envy too..... The people you think have it ALL figured out, don't.... KRIPES! I still look around and think people are better off then me..... As for the old guy you met, I'm 100% positive that you crazy kids made his day! Older people LOVE feeling 'needed' by.... It's the little thing that matter young lady....

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    1. Ohh I know! We all have misconstrued views of each other lives. I quickly remind myself of that whenever I start to tumble down the comparison tunnel. LOL Thanks for the advice ya old geezer! Are you ready for chef stef's baked goods again? It's 'cold' out today and I'm getting all sorts of new cookie recipes ready for this Fall!!

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    2. Does a bear $hit in the woods??? HELL YEAH I'm ready!!!!

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  6. Love love live this! When we talked about it on Instagram I couldn't wait to read it here.

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    1. Thanks Sean! Your kind Instagram comment is what inspired me to write this :)

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