Conversations from the South

The one thing I’ve found over years of travel is that after a while, places begin to look the same, buildings look that same, and the experiences feel the same. But, in every circumstance, the people are always different and this is what makes travel interesting.

As of late I’ve started to spend less time out looking at things and more time out talking to people who are around these things. And, I have to say, this trip was loaded with conversation. Three conversations really stood out (beyond meeting a troupe of actors in the Oakland Cemetery re-enacting various pieces of literature around different graves).

Bob

First was Bob. Bob approached me. This often makes me weary but I could sense that he was pretty harmless even though he had a goal. He was a small man, probably in his 50s.

“Whachu lissenin to in that ther Mustang?”

“The radio. The last thing that played was Master of Puppets.”

“Metallica? Why u wanna listen to Metallica? Here gurl. I have a cd for you to play.”

He hands me a cd.

“Do you want me to buy the CD?”

“I’m just asking for a small donation to the homeless.”

“Ok. But you have to tell me about the people around here. What are they like?”

“They’re mossly unfriendly. Not like you. You’re not being rude to me. People are mostly rude in these parts.”

“People are rude? Why do you think that is.”

“I dunno.”

“Fear? I really don’t understand it.”

“I never though of it like that. There’s just too much fighting these days. We’re all just fighting each other. I’m just trying to survive. Trying to make my way on the streets. But I’m glad to have met you because you’re not being mean to me.”

At this point I wished I’d asked Bob for a story because I’m sure I would have gotten a good one. I kept that question in my back pocket for the next person. That was Johnny, who I met a day later.

Phyllis

Phyllis is retired. She used to work in the health care industry but after a long illness she was no longer able to work. Now she spend her time visiting friends, baking and making soap.

“There are three sisters who I really admire. They spent their summers secluded in a small cabin in the south. During this time they experiment with various different ways of baking apple pies. It’s from these women that I learned the art of pie baking.”

I got first hand from Phyllis how the type of apple you use in baking a pie impacts the taste of that pie. And, a really interesting combination to work with was pink lady and granny smith apples. But only if the apples were soaked in cinnamon.

At this point she leaved forward,

“The type of oven you use impact the flavour. You should never preheat the oven when making a cake, even though they say you should. This will overcook the bottom of your cake. You should always bake a cake from a cold oven.”

“You should always freeze your cake after its cooked. If you wrap it in cellophane and put it into a ziploc bag it won’t lose it’s moisture. When you thaw, do it in the fridge. No one will ever know it was frozen. I’ve done this for my church many times and nobody ever knew the difference.”