Roadside Stands

We were driving along some backroads today on our way home from a little weekend getaway when I began to notice all the different roadside stands that dot almost every intersection in rural America. Handpainted signs would announce the upcoming goods that "You Don't Want To Miss!" Everything from "PEACHES!" to "SWEET POTATOES!" to "HOT-BOILED PEANUTS!" was made available for just a short stop and some quick cash. Me, thinking the way I do, got to wondering about the people who sit behind the tables in their well-worn lawn chairs waiting for passersby.

Take for instance the man with a truckload of sweet potatoes. The back of the truck was full of what my husband calls "yams" and on the tailgate he had little baskets lined up neatly with miniature piles of the potatoes. He had a wad of one dollar bills in his hand (yes, we were that close) and he was busily handing one lady a basket while keeping a close eye on another vehicle that pulled in. I got to wondering about all those potatoes. Did he grow them? Did he pick them? Did he have a wife at home praying that he would come home with an empty truck and a full wallet?

And the peaches... my goodness those peach stands are busy this time of year. On one stretch of road a man had tables and tables of peaches while on the other side of the road a woman had tables and tables of peaches. My husband said, "They get you going and coming." I wondered if they were working together. Or if they were in competition. Maybe we were witnessing a neighborly feud over whose territory that stretch of road belonged to. Maybe we were in the midst of a couple trying to cover all their bases so they can make their mortgage payment next month. This is just how my mind thinks.

My husband is a hard working man. He has to be to support a family of five. I know how it is to be that wife at home praying that he comes home with a full wallet. I know how it is to read the disappointment on his face before he ever walks through the door. I know the light in his eyes that says he's had a good day's work. We've had our ups and downs; our feast and famine. Sometimes I think you gotta have the one to appreciate the other. Maybe that's why I think of the people at those roadside stands. I don't see the sweet potato or the peach, I see the family at the dinner table.

Now the hot-boiled peanut? I've not got that one figured out yet.