Love and Practicality In a Small Mountain Town

Indian art in mexican fast food place
Beauty everywhere: This rhythmic Native
American art motif is on the wall of a Mexican
fast-food place by a pay phone I used in Placerville.

     Placerville, 120 miles east of Concord and 60 from Sacramento, could be any picturesque little town tucked into just about any mountains. A sign saying "8 miles to Sutter's Mill", where the '49 Gold Rush began, excited me, but I had 2,000 miles to drive! I couldn't afford such distractions.
     Two things were irritating me slightly, preventing total bliss as I sipped diet coke, chewed ice, enjoyed the scenery, and listened to "Bob Dylan: A Tribute", a fascinating, 2-disc book-on-tape of interviews the great artist has given over the years. First, I'd forgotten to take my sunglasses from their holder in my car at home. Second, the styrofoam of the coffee cup I had was starting to wear through.
     I stopped at a gas station, got directions to the local Dollar Store, and gleefully emerged a few minutes later carrying two pairs of sunglasses and a metal commuter cup, complete with screw-on lid — all for three bucks!

Placerville dollar store
I guess most dollar stores look pretty much alike.

     For the trip, I'd gotten our very first cell phone, so as to have a lifeline of communication in the desert. Our idea was to keep it for emergencies. Only gradually did Barbara and I realize how practical a cell phone is for talking! The final irony to this, of course, is that most of the desert along highway 50 remains off the radar for a signal!
     
      In Placerville, spied a pay phone across the street from the dollar store and phoned Barbara. Staying in touch with my beloved that way really helped me feel her with me, and she felt me back in Walnut Creek. That was precious beyond our imaginings. We really travelled together, all 2,400 miles. I scarcely ever felt alone.


pay phone in placerville

       Here's the famous pay phone.

bible tract on ground by pay phone
Close-up of the famous bible tract.
(want to read it?)
daisies beside pay phone
I told you Beauty is everywhere!

"What Remains Is the Essence",
the home pages of Max Reif