Lucky Penny

Some days. I have been engaged in a day long fight with the internet. Wait, not the internet. Blogger. Blogger keeps spitting me into blogosphere. Not recognizing me and not posting my comments. Erasing my posts before I can actually post them.

So many cleverly written episodes of my exciting life gone .......... poof!

Last Friday a rainstorm hit our area. Not a bad one, although I heard tell of some magnificent hail nearby. It did discourage camping, though. Before the rain I had a woman come to the entrance to the office and knock very lightly on the storm door. I saw her, didn't hear her. I happened to be in the office with the air on. It was uncomfortably hot and humid. I went to the door and told her that I was open. She walked in wringing her hands and acted like she was having balance problems.

She was very nervous and began to explain how she came to be in my kampground. It was a rather lengthy one-sided conversation. She was from Florida and she was very tired, having done some banking in St. Louis. Said she wanted to rest. Said she had to go back to the bank ...... in St. Louis and since this place (the kampground) was so close ( not really ..... I mean, closer than Florida, but over an hour ....) she thought she should rest here and maybe even sleep.

She may have thought her request to be odd, but it wasn't. People stop here all the time and stay overight, sleeping in their vehicles. They feel safer here than at a rest area and can have a shower. So she took the registration I gave her and began filling it out. This also took longer than usual as she kept stopping to tell me about her trip. She stopped at one point and stated that she was a law abiding citizen. This made my antennae rise. Said she had never been arrested, not even for a felony.

I am beginning to wonder if I put out some sort of vibe that attracts these folk. The story doesn't end here, either.

She was the only kamper in the park, so when the storm came rolling in, I looked out at the tent area to check on her. She seemed a little frail to me, maybe in her 70's and I was concerned about her being locked up in a vehicle with the windows up. I wasn't looking for company, but, she was alone and I thought I should bring her inside. I could not find her. I confess that I did not mount an all out search, but the car was not where I had put her.

I sort of forgot about her until the next day. I was packing copies of my book and getting ready for my book signing when she suddenly appeared in the store. After asking me if I remembered her .... as if I could forget her, she launched into another tale of adventure. Seems she decided to "ride around" before the storm hit. She was looking for a store and ended up at a truckstop nearly 20 miles away. While there, she discovered that they had showers! She bought a shower for $10 (mine was included with her stay) and then she discovered they had a laundry for only $2 a load ( mine is $1). And, there was the store for her to look at. A truckstop, people, a truckstop. Not a mall.

On her way back the storm hit and she turned around and went back and stayed the night .... in her car, having already paid to stay here. I am leaving out many details, as it took her quite awhile to relate all this to me. I tried to give her money back, since she did not stay here, but she refused and asked if she could walk around and look at my gardens.

Of course I said yes and once again tried to refund her, but she was insistant. Out she went and I saw her looking at the cosmos and bending to sniff. Had I not been getting ready for my book signing I would have gone out and offered seed and shown her some of my heirloom glads that do smell sweet. He, who would rescue a damsel in distress, saw her slip and almost fall. He asked if she was okay and offered his hand to help her gain her balance .........

She withdrew and barked "NO" at his offer of assistance and got into her vehicle and fled. Let me assure you that my husband is not a scary man and does not look like a scary man. But, we seem to attract strange folk.

So, now that I have once again navigated my way to re-boot the modem, tripping over a dog who now thinks her name is STOP. IT., with a cat clinging to my leg, I will again try to post this. Well, it is not the same as either of the other posts that are lost in space. But, hopefully the stars are alligned and the moon is smiling. I did find a penny in the pool area today ...... heads up!