Lost Nation and other Avenues

Live blogging at the corner of 114 and 5 in the Northeast Kingdom of VT:

Men in trucks, couples in sedans and SUVs pull up to the light and cock their heads, Labrador Retriever-like, at the odd man with the laptop and fatigued look in his eyes.  A full day of driving unwinds as the road names creep into the subconscious.  I took a left on a road called Lost Nation.  There was no power, most of the year round homes were solar, large boulders dotted the shoulder of the dirt road, a cascading waterfall ran perpendicular.  There was a presence in those woods that felt both smothering and comforting at once.

An unfortunately named mechanic proudly displayed his moniker: DAVID DETH – MACHINIST.  A smile rolls onto the lips as the tires peak a hill and roll down.  Pulling into town I discover that even here there is a Starbucks.  The snowboarder behind the counter asked for my order three times with a glazed look in his eye and said, sorry man – Brain Like A Sieve.

The coolest/funniest thing I witnessed today was a man in an orange vest diligently waiting by the railroad tracks.  I wonder what he’s waiting for…a few hours later I was sitting at a small restaurant when I saw him pop into action!  With a quick step and proud look he walked into the middle of the road and waved his arms up and down.  Yes, he was the crossing signal, putting his own life in harms way in order to protect everyone else’s.  It was funny until I realized how simple this solution to the age old problem of train tracks running through town was.

The latte is almost gone, the search for a new place to call home continues.  The dog is asleep at my feet.  The air is cooling down.  The people running the motel are nice, they have a little gift shop, and they seem to love dogs.  Oh one last vignette before I go.  Road signs warn of work ahead, two cops on either side direct traffic while 5 giant cherry pickers lift a crew of all Mexican workers up and down so they can trim limbs off trees 100 feet in the air. 

OK that’s it, night night.