Monday, March 28, 2022

CLOUDY SKIES

       Robin , from The New Dharma Bums wrote this morning about a shape her brother had seen in the clouds. Kind of cool that he saw a robin shape in the clouds for his twin Robin.

       Well, this reminded me about an incident where children were looking for shapes in the clouds.

      I was hitch hiking back to my school in mid November of my first teaching year. I was picked up about 2:00 PM  by a young family that was on a long road trip. I was in the back seat with two young kids around five years old. They were super little kids. One thing their parents did to keep the kids amused was to look for shapes made by clouds. They were occupied with this activity for an hour until it became completely overcast and they couldn't see cloud shapes. Then they looked at books they had. 

     I was with these people for about 100 miles when I had to take a different road. By now it was around 4:00 PM . I had to walk for about 45 min before I could start hitch hiking again. A couple of famers picked me up in their truck and gave me a ride of 20 miles before they turned off in the country They had taken a load of pigs to town. By now it was completely dark. It might have been a highway but it was rural and very little traffic after dark. One car passed me and that was it. I could see a village about 5 miles away so I started walking.

     The village was quiet. No one was on the streets. The businesses were all closed . But wait there was one place with dim lights on. The Chinese Cafe was open. This cafe did not even have electricity but it did have a phone booth. I phoned one of the farmers in my school district to  come and get me. About an hour later he showed up and I got to my land lady's house about 11:00 PM. 

     It was an afternoon that I'll never forget. 


   


42 comments:

  1. Hi Red, Enjoyed two things thanks to this post. 1. Your story. 2. The bird cloud over at The New Dharma Bums.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I look back and sometimes can't believe what I did.

      Delete
  2. Interesting story. I never felt safe to hitch hike. I did enjoy looking for shapes in the clouds. Take care, enjoy your day and the week ahead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hitch hiking was somewhat risky. I tried the cloud thing with my kids when they were small and it worked.

      Delete
  3. Those were the days! When people hitchhiked and kind drivers picked them up. There was never any thought about treachery and there wasn't much suspicion either. Did you eat a Chinese meal while you were waiting?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You've summed up hitch hiking at that time. I was the only person in that little cafe for the whole 2 hours I was there. I did not have meal.

      Delete
  4. Quite the adventure, etched in your memory. No wonder! It would be a lot simpler these days…

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I met some great people when I was hitch hiking.

      Delete
  5. What a brave soul you were. Amazing how years ago the goodness of neighbors helped those in need.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think it was so much bravery as risk taking. It was fairly safe everywhere in those days.

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. The family was on a very long trip. I had a trip of 160 miles.

      Delete
  7. I remember that we used to hitchhike when we were in college in the late 60's, early 70's. We were never alone when we did but when I look back now, I always think how risky it was. I would never want any of my children or grandchildren to attempt hitchhiking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hiking together was a smart move. I wouldn't recommend hitch hiking today.

      Delete
  8. That sounds like quite a journey, Red. I love how the cloud photos sparked this memory.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good memories thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was different at that time...1950's.

      Delete
  10. Were we safer back then or just more innocent? In any case, what a great -- and memorable -- adventure!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Innocence is a good word to describe things.

      Delete
  11. Hitchhiking can take a long time unless you get lucky.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's the only time I got stuck and I had missed a bus so the only way I could get there is hitch hike.

      Delete
  12. The Chinese Cafe surprised me.

    Thanks for talking about cloud shapes, which gives me a chance to write the word pareidolia, which I absolutely love to do. 😀

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're also making me go to the dictionary to look up pareidolia.

      Delete
  13. What an experience you had on that trip! Life was so different then, more simple and safe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's the only time I got stuck hitchhiking.

      Delete
  14. What a great memory, triggered by clouds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The kids and cloud shapes will always stay with me.

      Delete
  15. Oh my gosh, Red! What an adventurer you were. You were lucky so many people picked you up. I think people are more nervous these days about picking up a stranger.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was different at that time. We never worried about who would pick us up. I think people had to worry who they picked up.

      Delete
  16. I used to pick up hitchhikers, back in the sixties. Now I don't even see any beside the road.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll bet you have many stories about the people you picked up.

      Delete
  17. You have such amazing stories!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was raised on a farm and every day was an adventure. I just kept on having fun when I left home.

      Delete
  18. Clouds can be very entertaining, you were brave to hitch hike:)

    ReplyDelete
  19. It was the fifties and things were different.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Glad to hear the story told so well, Red. And glad you made it back safely, even if it took a long time!

    ReplyDelete
  21. In the UK one never sees hitch-hikers nowadays.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Clouds are very entertaining, especially for children! I don't really see hitchhikers anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I can't imagine hitchhiking at all, and certainly not that far! (And into such a remote place!) You get points for bravery.

    I also can't imagine clouds entertaining children for an hour in this digital age, but maybe I'm just being cynical!

    ReplyDelete
  24. that sounds intense story dear Red

    how nice you were able to call your friend from village that had no electricity .being from new era this sounds quite scary where a stranger feels suddenly disconnected with world he otherwise carries in his pocket wow

    ReplyDelete
  25. One of my earliest childhood memories is lying on my back in the yard, watching the clouds and picking out shapes. In the quiet, I felt the earth moving. Amazing to me. Except that it wasn't the earth at all, as you know...it was the wind hurrying the clouds along.

    ReplyDelete