Where did I leave off…if I miss a day, a world of events happens and I don’t know if I can catch up. I’ll go back to the moment of sitting in the warm waiting room of the automotive repair place. I am enjoying the heat, the resident puppy access to emails and my second cup of tea [ brought with me tea bags, milk in a lidded jar; Scott, the owner provided hot water] when the front door opens and a woman blows in. She is ‘around my age’ and she blows in, not because she is late for an appointment but rather, in a tizzy. She has pulled up to the shop, in her car that just started making funny noises. She has another 20 miles to go and has already driven – I realize later 35 miles. She is scared and overwrought.
She immediately starts talking: doesn’t know what is wrong, pulled off the road, doesn’t recognize the sounds. Oh dear, what a day. On and on. While she is diatribe-ing, I have noticed what a terrific head of salt and pepper hair she has and the attractive a cute pale pink tunic sweater and pink jeans she has on; don’t remember the shoes. Find it all very urban. She continues to lament her situation, when Scott appears. She tells him again what she has told me, that she heard a lot of noise and in looking for a place to pull off, came to this exit – didn’t even know the name – it’s Damacus – and voila! a garage.
Scott takes her keys asks her to remain where she is and leaves. She sits down. Learning the craft of acting creates a good listener, and listen I did. She has stories: personal, professional, and when she made it to telling me the little town she lives in, south of mine I exclaimed how much I love it. [I stop there to buy gas. It is the last Mobile on my way west and I need Mobile Exxon for my Plenti points].
Her stories are intriguing, colorful and by the time Scott reappears to tell her that her car is one foot from the engine seizing up, we have exchanged cards, names, addresses and promise to see each other again She was born and raised Brooklyn, but moved Upstate 15 years ago. In her despair she asks Scott for a cup of coffee.. That he makes for her, but when she asks him for milk, he has none. So I offer my TJ”S goat milk, which she is delighted to have. As she makes cheese, mozzarella and other varietals, suddenly, she thinks the idea of using goat milk would be novel. She said she would have a City friend bring her some from TJ’s next time they visit.
And so the world got a little smaller and a little friendlier for each of us. She called for her daughter-in-law to come and get her, [she was on her way there originally] and as she waited, drank her coffee with milk she shared more of her life. I asked a few questions, but she didn’t need a prompt. It just spilled out.
So next time I’m heading south, I’ll give her a call and we’ll meet for coffee….