Photo courtesy of Life Magazine.
It was dim and dusty and it was drafty, but it was work that needed doing, and the soldiers of the 6888th got it done. Here they are, hard at work in Rouen, France, in 1945, sorting through the backlog of mail that needed to make its way to the front. Just think — Mare was there!
Today’s giveaway is a bit more general: Octavia is being forced to ride along on a cross-country ride, and she’s the Map Reader. Unfortunately, Mare is… a Map Avoider. She just takes random exits, but along the road, they find all sorts of entertaining places on the American highway. SO! Today’s challenge: what’s your BEST off-the-beaten-track-serendipity story? What’s the greatest thing you’ve found, or the most fun you’ve had just being… lost?
THREE people have a chance to win a free book for the BEST story, with a lovely bookplate offered to the fourth place winner.
This is not entry-worthy, but the best thing I ever saw when I was driving along not really knowing where I was was this statue all lit up at night:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2127
I was like, "You're kidding me, right?"
Last year, my daughter and I lived in Taiwan. One of our biggest challenges (because we don't speak Mandarin!) was finding places to eat. We lived in what is considered a small town (600,000 inhapitants) and walked everywhere. Our requirements on finding places to eat were simple: the establishment either needed to have a menu in English, or pictures.
On what we called Our Street (we could't read the street signs, but we were always on this street, hence the name) we found one or two places to eat, but quickly grew tired of them. Pointed landed us delicious fried sweet potatoes and what looked like fried fish, but was actually fried octopus. English usually was found at 7/11.
We started out walking yet again on that never ending quest for something edible and so very close to our apartment, we noticed a very cute little restaurant that we'd never seen before. No pictures, no menu displayed but my daughter said something, or was it me?, and the next thing we knew, we were inside and being seated! She blamed me and I blamed her! We felt so uncomfortable because we knew we'd have to leave.
The waitress brought us menus in English! We sipped on mango flavored water and each of us ordered what turned out to be such delicious pasta dishes! 22 House became one of our favorite restaurants. Honestly, I thought this was a dream and that when we walked this way the next day the restaurant would not be there.
Sometimes, it seems as if everything on that trip was serendipity but I remember that first time in 22 House with a warm fuzzy glow because of the joy it brought us in finally finding a nice, relaxing and delicious place to eat!
We were driving from Arlington, VA to Abilene Texas, a long long way. After we lost the luggage rack in Tennessee, and the suitcases joined us girls in the back, it seemed longer.
At last we reached Alabama, and looked for a place to picnic. Randomly, my father chose the exit for Steele, Alabama. Soon we had found the town dump.
Recognizing that this was not a nice place for a picnic, we tried to change course. Sadly, the town dump was very, very muddy, and soon we were horribly stuck. Miles from anywhere, surrounded by garbage.
A long hour later, help arrived in the form of a beat-up old pickup truck. As we were being pulled out, we could see in the back of the truck, neatly lined up in a row against the cap, a row of headless dolls.
And I guess that's why the truck driver had come to the dump–you never know when you might find another headless doll to add to your collection.
While Josh and I were on our way through Central Maine headed to my father's house, we decided to take the back roads. We, of course, got lost.
But since it was Central Maine and distinctly non-scary, we didn't pull out the map and just kept wandering.
Then, quite a ways past the extremely stinky Decoster Egg Farm, we saw the sign. It read: GINORMOUS YARD SALE, 1 MILE. (I'm totally serious. It was a very wide sign.)
After at least five miles, we finally hit it. Before we actually pulled in, I think both of us considered skipping it, as it looked not-at-all ginormous and more like a sketchy roadside stop in Texas. (Or, at least, what a sketchy roadside stop in Texas looks like in the movies.)
But, we'd gone so far. So we paused. And then, while still in the car, we realized: every single thing at the yard sale had an owl theme. Every. Single. Thing. Lamps, wall hangings (some on what looked like black velvet), plastic planters, clocks, cookie jars, bookends, perfume bottles, strings of patio lights, dishes, everything.
Have I mentioned that we have a thing for owls?
We couldn't get out of the car fast enough.
Turns out, the woman with the World's Largest Collection of Owls (she was in Guinness) had died. And these people were selling off the collection. And it was the last day of the sale — anything left over was going to be junked.
We spent $20 we didn't really have and filled — filled — the trunk with owl stuff.
And then we pulled out the atlas.
My father was very impressed. Sort of.