Last week I got a call from my brother who has a place in the middle of nowhere (older post about that). It's not unusual to go a few of weeks without a phone call with him.
He called with a proposal for me. Would I be interested in traveling to the middle of nowhere with him. I've enjoyed my trips over the years down there but I also like to plan my trips.
After my positive reply and a few calls the start of the trip was set for the next day. It was a short trip having the main objective of checking on his place down there.
This whole short trip turned out great. My brother is quite the story telling (that's the nice way to say it). I've been told by family that I tell a story too slow with too much detail. My brother owns that characteristic at an even higher level.
Now over the years I would guess I visited down there about 10 times. On this trip the locals still surprised me. Most of them are best neighbors you could ever find.
We had just crossed the border (it feels to me like there should a marked border there) into the area via ferry. The ferry crew knows my brother and his wife very well. After the common exchange, "how's things haven't seen you in awhile", the talk turns to this guy who got released early from prison because he was willing to wear a wire. This local guy was bad news and has been for a long time.
Some miles down what turns into a dirt road we meet a neighbor of his traveling toward us. We stop, roll truck windows (definitely truck country) down and talk. The conversation quickly goes to this wire-wearing-bad dude.
It might have been during this longer conversation that I learned of another local crime story. Guy who runs a the only pizza place for miles has been busted by the feds for tax evasion. The guy is scheduled to show up at federal prison soon.
Now we decided to get some of this pizza one night. The business will probably be sold but for now the guy's family is still running it.
We walk in and there are a few customers but it's mostly empty. It is winter and there's little going on around the lake (except for crimes I guess). Well look who comes in? The fed-busted guy. We have never met but he knows my brother.
Surprising to me, he sits down at our table. Not too many sentences into the conversation he starts telling his tale. Much of it has to do with his ideas of who was out to get him.
After at least an hour of talk, we left. I told my brother that I was shocked that he shared all that detail about this with customers. He certainly didn't know me. I could have been a fed.
Just one more crime story - we stopped at the local store and post office. Very interesting place. For those of you who can remember Mayberry R.F.D., it could have been used as a set piece. One difference is this place is not a R.F.D. because you need to drive in to pick up your mail.
Of course you can rent P.O. boxes at most every post office. I just don't know how many still have a local postmaster handing your mail to you.
Before we left the store/post office, I learned that someone tried to break into it last month. Luckily they failed but did set off an alarm and damaged a door.
Hey how about something not at all related to this post? Here's an unexpected version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" - enjoy -
He called with a proposal for me. Would I be interested in traveling to the middle of nowhere with him. I've enjoyed my trips over the years down there but I also like to plan my trips.
After my positive reply and a few calls the start of the trip was set for the next day. It was a short trip having the main objective of checking on his place down there.
This whole short trip turned out great. My brother is quite the story telling (that's the nice way to say it). I've been told by family that I tell a story too slow with too much detail. My brother owns that characteristic at an even higher level.
Now over the years I would guess I visited down there about 10 times. On this trip the locals still surprised me. Most of them are best neighbors you could ever find.
We had just crossed the border (it feels to me like there should a marked border there) into the area via ferry. The ferry crew knows my brother and his wife very well. After the common exchange, "how's things haven't seen you in awhile", the talk turns to this guy who got released early from prison because he was willing to wear a wire. This local guy was bad news and has been for a long time.
Some miles down what turns into a dirt road we meet a neighbor of his traveling toward us. We stop, roll truck windows (definitely truck country) down and talk. The conversation quickly goes to this wire-wearing-bad dude.
It might have been during this longer conversation that I learned of another local crime story. Guy who runs a the only pizza place for miles has been busted by the feds for tax evasion. The guy is scheduled to show up at federal prison soon.
Now we decided to get some of this pizza one night. The business will probably be sold but for now the guy's family is still running it.
We walk in and there are a few customers but it's mostly empty. It is winter and there's little going on around the lake (except for crimes I guess). Well look who comes in? The fed-busted guy. We have never met but he knows my brother.
Surprising to me, he sits down at our table. Not too many sentences into the conversation he starts telling his tale. Much of it has to do with his ideas of who was out to get him.
After at least an hour of talk, we left. I told my brother that I was shocked that he shared all that detail about this with customers. He certainly didn't know me. I could have been a fed.
Just one more crime story - we stopped at the local store and post office. Very interesting place. For those of you who can remember Mayberry R.F.D., it could have been used as a set piece. One difference is this place is not a R.F.D. because you need to drive in to pick up your mail.
Of course you can rent P.O. boxes at most every post office. I just don't know how many still have a local postmaster handing your mail to you.
Before we left the store/post office, I learned that someone tried to break into it last month. Luckily they failed but did set off an alarm and damaged a door.
 |
| typically can't see the lake in summer |
While I still am not planning to join the twitter "space", I do enjoy clever funny tweets. I found this one on the Chicago Tribune site.
Winnie the Pooh is an addict who doesn't wear pants and lives in the woods.
If he were a person, he'd be the first suspect in every crime.
Hey how about something not at all related to this post? Here's an unexpected version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" - enjoy -
No comments:
Post a Comment