Off the beaten path.
Took a family trip to New Hampshire 180 miles away. Early morning awakening, 3 hours one way. It was enjoyable in a monotonous sort of way as most long car rides become with each person except for the driver taking power naps. Highway driving can be boring. As we were reaching our destination, 15 miles out, we happened to spot a little handwritten sign stapled to an unremarkable tree. “ Goat milk soap, eggs, 3 miles” with a not so clear arrow. It was on the opposite side of the road. A mental note and a 30 second observation conversation was made.
On the return journey, both my wife and I remembered the sign. We kept a look out for it. She was driving. Then suddenly as we saw it, an abrupt spontaneous decision was made to get off the main road and go explore. I am usually up for exploring new things, but as we kept going deeper and deeper into farm neighborhoods, the roads became windy and it was more of navigating a maze. There were no real signs as we just followed the contours of the landscape in search of goat milk soap. I started to exclaim “that this was a bad idea” as I had my doubts as I looked at my wife who had a big smile as she was driving with no real idea where we were either. Like a bolt from the blue another small sign “ Goat milk soap” with an obscure arrow showed up on a tree trunk. We were being guided I guess with random interval signs. The path became a dirt road onto a farm with an old run down house at the end of it. Broken down cars and tractors lay scattered about the property. To my eye, this looked real dodgy. Yet the adventure proceeded.
We parked. No one was about except for another sign..” goat milk soap inside, front of window” What ?! We have to go inside a strangers house looking for soap? My spider sense was tingling. Well that did not deter my wife who jumped out of the car and walked to the house, surveyed the premises for a second and walked in. I ofcourse had to protect the car, so stayed inside with the little one. Out of nowhere an elderly disheveled man appeared and started to chat with her. I presumed he was the farm owner. They spoke for a few minutes after which I was invited to join them. I got out of the car and came over.
He showed us these beautiful soaps that were neatly arranged on a small shelf. His appearance was interesting. Dirt and grit blackened his fingers clearly from decades of hard labor. Only one button remained on his greasy stained shirt. His oversized baggy pants barely being held up by a worn out belt. He had definitely been living off the grid for over 60 years. Unkempt would be the external judgment yet conversations with him about how he made the soaps I realized he was the kindest man. Gently he gave us some art work that his old wife had painstakingly made for free. We bought the soaps, and as he explained that he gets “tourists” from all over who follow the signs and lets him sell his soaps that takes him weeks to make. He informed us that people just come for his natural soaps that help various skin conditions.
He was not a conglomerate soap manufacturer. Not wealthy. Just a farmer making ends meet and with a side hustle of making a few soaps using his goats in his worn-out barn ( or his kitchen). I thought, why did his generation live hard lives that was tough on the physical yet gentle on their souls and now we live lives that are gentle on the body yet heavy on the soul. We bid him farewell, he gave us directions to get back to the highway ( which were “ go left then right then left then go to the fork and you can take either road”).
Content at our local encounter, like aliens visiting earth, we left and continued to try to track our path back to the highway. Time felt still here in the boonies. High grasses, gravel roads, no concrete constructions or busily dashing cars. It was a different paced life. No sooner than we touched the main roads the traffic began and we were off to the races.
Who knew just 3 miles “off the beaten path” can lie anything other that what the mind believes. The mental noise keeps us chained onto our “known” path for safety and security, and at times a spontaneous decision to take a risk, is what is needed to discover a wonderful world. Was the farm off the regular path or was the regular road actually off natural landscape of mountains, hills, and farmlands? It all depends on our perspective. Lesson learned. Take a risk, explore the world. Use goat milk soap.
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i love you
