For example, the other day I turned onto a country road headed home, and I noticed that about 1/4 mile down the road there was a train on the tracks. Next thing i noticed was a car coming towards me. I soon deducted that because the train wasn't moving and the engine wasn't in site, this car had been waiting long enough and the driver decided to turn around and drive 2 miles out of their way to get around the train. I thought I'd go sit for a minute waiting on the train...give it a chance to at least start moving before I turned around. Not being in a huge hurry helped my patient attitude. I next noticed a small white pickup that was waiting at the tracks. Obviously this driver was more patient than the last. But there was a problem. As I got closer, and could see inside the cab, I found that there was NO DRIVER!Now there are alot of things that are common in small towns that aren't so common elsewhere...but an empty truck at train tracks isn't one of them. I thought to myself "maybe he got out to help with the train" (as it was completely stopped on the tracks). Not realistically thinking he would have, but realistic options are slim at this point anyways!
I continued to look around and soon found the driver. There was a house on the other side of the road that had a wooden fence around it. conveniently located on the outside of the fence was an old bale of straw. It was late enough in the day that the fence cast a shadow on the older gentleman sitting there. He was reading a book.
I didn't bother to stop to see if the train would start to move. I wondered to myself whether or not the man's truck was running still or not, but didn't bother to stop mine to listen...I simply turned around when I reached his truck and headed back the other way. As I did, the kind gentleman sent a wave my way. I smiled and waved back. "Have a great day" I thought to myself. I also wished I could stop and take his picture but #1) I didn't have my camera and #2) I thought taking it with my cell phone would come off as an intrusive and obnoxious teenager with 'all that new technology stuff'. He looked content and peaceful, sitting there waiting for the train, so I drove on. Only in a small town.
Here's another funny thing I ran into. This is called a straw maze. It's made up of 1 ton straw bales stacked 2 high and on the inside is a confusing path of twists and turns to get lost in. There are also 'corn mazes' around here; corn that is fully grown is taller than a 6'5" man so farmers 'cut' a maze into their fields and charge people who want to go though it. Anyways, I thought it was funny that they found it necessary to post these signs. Reminds me a bit of the woman who sued McDonald's because her cup of coffee burned her mouth!
And I'm sure they wouldn't want any body trespassing while they aren't there, but it's a public attraction and the fact that this sign appeared every 20 feet sort of hurt the 'welcoming' feel :-)
The number 1 funny thing happening at home so far? I've been cooking myself breakfast in the morning. Usually I saute green and white onions with a green bell pepper, and top that with a garden picked diced tomato and some cottage cheese. The other morning mom and dad where in the kitchen with me and mom made the comment "yeah, it sure hasn't smelled the same since Sarah got home" (referring to the poignant smell the simmering onion/pepper mixture was giving
off). Confused dad half-said something like "what do you mean" and before mom could answer he figured it out and commented "oh, smells like cooking!" HAHA Quickly mom corrected and pointed to the onions...but it was just too late...Isn't that priceless? :-)
off). Confused dad half-said something like "what do you mean" and before mom could answer he figured it out and commented "oh, smells like cooking!" HAHA Quickly mom corrected and pointed to the onions...but it was just too late...Isn't that priceless? :-)Lastly, there is a burger joint in town called Al's Frost Top. It's only blocks away from the elementary school I attended and I remember taking one or two 'field trips' to go get a shake or hamburger there. It's not very big or fancy, and I can't remember it every being very busy either. Coming back to town I half-heatedly wondered if it was even in business anymore. (It helps that it is the ONLY 'restaurant' in the 'one stop-light' town of Paul, ID.) Sure enough, they were open. I went in for a 'memory making meal'. There was no one at the counter. There was no bell to ring. I heard voices in the back somewhere. Waited. Waited. And almost as I was thinking about how best to make some attention grabbing noise (somehow feeling uncomfortable/impolite about needing to do that...i was thinking "drop something...clear your throat/cough...open the door...heck Sarah why can't you just say HELLO!!! Anybody working today!") anyways, just about the time my patience was about to outweigh my lack of self-confidence, a teenager peaked around the corner. She had been talking to the other employee. She looked slightly annoyed that I had interrupted their conversation. I tried to not allow that to hurt my already wavering self-esteem. My first thought was along the lines of 'shouldn't you be at school' (as it was 2 pm).
Continuing on in this already long, short story, I ordered a hamburger and curly fries. I then remembered seeing that 'lettuce' is an extra 35 cents...but she had already taken my $6.66 and given me change when I decided to request lettuce (shouldn't it come with a hamburger anyways!) Fortunately and graciously, she didn't charge me. As I waited for my meal, I also remembered that they served 'fry sauce' here. If you are un-educated about fry sauce don't feel naive as it is an accompaniment that is found in only a few towns in Southern Idaho and Northern Utah. On a very basic level, it is a perfect mixture of Ketchup and Mayonnaise. (I know what you are thinking you un-educated prejudge mentalists! Don't' knock it till you try it! And then still don't knock it cuz you probably mixed it wrong!) Anyways, those are the basic ingredients but you can add to that all sorts of spices and unnatural ingredients with 'oxide' and 'mono' in their titles. For a while, McDonald's and Wendy's and Burger King (Utah/Idaho based) all had fry sauce packets!
Back on track...when she handed me my bag of food I gave her 35 cents and asked for some fry sauce. She took my change and said "have a nice day". Bewildered I again mentioned something about "fry sauce?" "Oh", she said "I thought that was for the lettuce cuz I didn't charge you. There's already fry sauce in there."
Already fry sauce in there. As if i felt guilty about getting free lettuce and would feel like I needed to pay for that? But I was too happy with my fry sauce to worry about my lost money...
Oh to the days when fry sauce came with fries!
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