AN AMTRAK COMEDIAN

One song leads to another

One friend to another

So, I’ll travel along

With a friend and a song…or maybe a comedian. I took a photo of Homer, Sandra and Issac, brothers and sister traveling from Phoenix to Bakersfield.  This was at the Los Angeles station before boarding a bus over the grapevine. Except, none of them should be smiling.  We’ve all had experiences where everything that could go wrong-did!  They discovered there are two airports in Phoenix after they arrived at the wrong one. The relative who left them at the airport had already departed. Getting a ride to the right airport, a traffic hold-up, missing the correct flight by minutes. Then, finding out since it was now minutes after the 24 hour time to cancel, “Sorry, no refund.”  Then renting a car and racing to nearby Maricopa to catch an Amtrak train and barely making it on board before the doors closed.  Ahhh, such are the joys of travel. Makes you want to eat nails. But..Issac kept us all in stitches through the nearly three-hour wait time in the Lobby. They offered me coffee, pretzels, chocolate, mints and gales of laughter.  Issac told me he heals everyday troubles by hugging his three-year old grandson. Laughter is healing and he took  the drudgery out of  my trip and theirs.

I’ve traveled from Northern California to Southern California on Amtrak many times and enjoyed the train.  I’ve seen this bird, or maybe another bird, that appears to live inside the station on popcorn and bread crumbs. I couldn’t get a good picture, but watching  birds anywhere gives me a lift.

Of course, I didn’t have to hang out my red panties to flag the train, or hang from  a mail hook, but the Amtrak stop at Deming is a simple kiosk. The train was almost an hour late. It made up the lost time across the vast stretches of desert and we arrived in Los Angeles on time.

On my first ever overnight on a train, I can report  the food was good, the attempt to sleep through the night was not very successful.  But, I was warm and none the worse for wear. As we were disembarking, I took a picture of Tanya, who was dressed all in fur from head to toe, tiredly clutching her guitar. She told me she is hoping to be a musician someday, she earns her living doing make up, and “I look younger than I am.” Sweet!

They say the best part of travel is  it reveals the value of home. I think the best part of travel is  the people you meet. On that subject, I’ll get back to my last days with Jim when I’m settled in.

 

A TRUCK, FROG PURSE AND SPICE TINS

No one ever had a  yard sale where everything sold.  And, when you retire, there is no such thing as a day off. We fill up every day like there is no tomorrow, considering ourselves lucky that we can.  I figured it out, a garage sale sounds profitable, but in terms of preparation, moving every thing at once, then dealing with the aftermath, it was not worth the work.  At least not for me,  living out on a rural road without the benefit of “walk in” traffic.

But the people who came were infinitely interesting. This customer had an unusual frog purse and I photographed her. She told me everyone makes a fuss over that purse and wants one, but she can’t remember the catalog  she ordered it from, and it isn’t stamped with a company name.

I had one customer who insisted I should sell him my truck. He kept offering me a hundred dollars and the keys to his van. Then he’d up the amount of money. So, I tried to sell him an exercise machine for $2.  (He looked like he needed one.)  He claimed he was bored. He goes to garage and yard sales for something to do. I told him, throw out your television set and you won’t be bored.

The last  I looked my truck was still there. It served as my desk, lunch table, and gathering spot for the neighbors who pulled up the lawn chairs and chatted. Late in the day, we broke out the chips and wine. Jim brought out his portable fire pit that kept us warm during the morning chill.

My daughter claims, you offer everything you didn’t sell  free. We did that and got rid of a few  items. One man gave me a donation for some free stuff. The donation came to more than I was originally charging for some old spice cans. Go figure?

Others sat and chatted with us, enjoying the yard regaled us with tales of their own yard sales. One woman drove away and said yes I want that file cabinet (it was a freebie) but not today. Will she come back?  Was she serious? Only time will tell.

By the end of the day, Karen, Jan, Jim and I felt just like this-deserving a rest. The clean-up is still ahead of us.