Look at that Girl.....

“Listening to your heart is not simple.

 Finding out who you are is not simple. It takes a lot of

 hard work and courage 

to get to know who you are and what you want.” 
― Sue Bender, Plain and Simple: A Journey to the Amish

This past weekend, Big Daddy, off-color daughter and I took off early Friday morning and started down highway 68 in Kentucky to experience something called a "400 mile" yard sale.

We traveled a two lane highway, over bridges, around bends so curvy that even if your not one to get carsick---you just might need something for nausea.  We stopped and parked in peoples yards, along side the road in little pull-offs, in driveways and in fields wet from the sprinkling rain.

It was fun...fun to see the wonder of creation,

to see the different ways folks lived just a few miles down the road.

People had all kinds of "junk" up for sale.  Some were antique dealers with prices almost as high as in any shop and then there would be some farmers wife, face wrinkled and worn, over sized flannel shirt bunched up to keep her warm, selling canned vegetables from her last years canning and jelly from her blackberries she picked along the way.

I loved seeing other peoples treasures and wondered why they had kept some of them for so long.  I wondered if they were gifts--that they didn't have any clue what to do with, wondered a lot about their lives and their stories.  It was a fun day.

Along this two lane highway through farm country, there are not many places to stop and have a potty break and not many places to stop and have a bite to eat.

We happened upon a little family market that was owned and operated by a large Amish family, set off from the road in the middle of "nowhere".

We pulled over---some of their folks were having a sale--and it made me realize that some of my own trash turned into others treasures--there was coffee jars and spaghetti jars that had been washed and rinsed and saved--I wonder if they sold any.

Off-Color daughter and I were so excited.  First, because we had a bathroom and secondly--we both love going into places where people live a differently--seems both of us are curious story seekers.

As we walked in the door and got to the bathroom located in the corner just beyond the sandwich and ice-cream counter, off color daughter looked at me and said, "Did you hear those little girls at the cash register?"  I cocked my head and listened. 

She said, "the little blond girl just asked her older sister this, "Did you see that girl....she's got really short hair and is wearing shorts...Do you think her mama knows she is doing that?"  I laughed.  Then off color daughter said, "The older sister said, Look there's her mom and she has short hair and shorts too."

When we paid for our ice-cream and pound of Colby jack cheese wrapped in wax paper, the little girls stared at us--just as curious about our life style as we were about theirs.

Their life seemed simple....

lavender and blue dresses, black tennis shoes, white little caps on their head

their blue eyes twinkled and the blond hair glistened.

We chatted for a bit about how busy it must be in the store.

They agreed and I left a tip in their little jar sitting by the cash register.  

I stood outside and looked at their surroundings...

black shiny horse buggy,

simple farm house,

laundry washed and hanging in the sunshine, flapping around in a gentle breeze

and

a little boy about eight runs across the road

barefoot,

high water black pants,

crisp blue shirt....

skipping and jumping

in a way that showed the glee of a child in summer.

I stood for a moment,

wanting to breath in a bit of simple life

for life had been more difficult lately

not slow enough

not simple

not plain....

wanting to be mindful of their need to not be photographed

I had to capture a bit of the 

simple wonder...

so I walked across the road and quickly snapped the picture above....

and

when I look at it..

I go back

standing in the sunshine

having the desire to kick off my shoes 

and

toss crazy into the air

and

embrace 

simple

plain and simple.

Thankful

for sunshine,

a whistle stop cafe that still serves fried green tomatoes,

other peoples junk that turns into treasure

and

cold ice-cream served 

with 

a 

slice of peace on top.

May we all find a moment

to run in the green summer grass,

feel the wind in our hair

and

wonder about 

life on the other side....

Did you see that girl?

oh and by the way off color daughter did get her hair cut really short--it looks fabulous!!!

Be a great Wednesday......

The radical rambler...