Detours

Vacations come in many different flavors. Some folks plan itineraries down to the last minute. Others get in the car and let the road lead the way. Some enjoy the conviviality of cruise ships. Others find a cabin off the beaten path and immerse themselves in a hermit lifestyle. Some take pleasure in theme parks and entertainment venues. Others tote a bag of books and find themselves lost in stories and tales of far away lands. There is no ultimate vacation template that is enjoyed by all. Temperament, life circumstances, age and time often dictate what is on the vacation menu at any given time.

My husband and I prefer vacations that have waypoints scheduled but we are not fans of planning things down to the nanosecond. We believe it is good to leave a little breathing space between the parentheses. If we were into the crystal-loving-woo-woo-world we would call it “letting the universe speak to us”

Recently, we made a trip to our beloved Black Hills. We arrived early at our cabin and a rule follower was manning the desk so we were not able to check in early. Not wanting to drive much farther or start anything too involved we felt a visit to a nearby rock shop was a perfect way to spend an hour or two. I am not a rock hound but my husband goes to another realm when he gets near rocks.

A story unfolded while I wandered around the piles of rocks and gemstones. Here is the cast of characters:

Shopkeeper–Rock hound, stone-faced (sorry about the pun, but it is true), wearing a dusty faded navy pullover. All business.

Homesteader–Old Guard rock hound, tall and lanky gentleman with a well-worn cap and a dusty brown vest over the seen-better-times shirt. His family homesteaded in the area generations ago.

Rancher Man–Rock hound, grizzled and older with a slightly bent-over frame wearing dusty jeans and a plaid shirt. Hearing optional.

Bucky– Rock hound, younger man (relatively speaking). A belt cinched up the waist of his faded, dusty jeans so they would not fall off his lean frame.

The story unfolds as such.

Shopkeeper and Homesteader were “visiting” by the counter. I heard them say approximately ten words in the span of ten minutes (do the math). This chatter was stopped when Shopkeeper said, “Here comes Rancher Man. I wonder if he found his cows.”

Rancher Man enters the shop.

Pause. Pause.

Shopkeeper asks in a monotone voice, “Did ‘ya find your cows?”

Pause. Pause. Another pause.

Rancher Man replies in a flat voice, “Yup.”

Pause. Pause.

Homesteader asks calmly, “Where were they?”

Pause. Pause.

Rancher Man responds, “Across the road.”

Enter Bucky, smiling and attempting to interject some levity. “So, one cow must have been the leader for the group of escapees.”

Silence. Silence.

Rancher Man replies slowly, “There were just three of them.”

Dead air. Silence.

It is at this point in the exchange of responses that I realized I was completely out of my element. I do not speak rock hound. I am a babbler and cannot control myself from speaking in a stream-of-consciousness manner. My husband, however, is right at home with this kind of banter so he was able to sidle up to them and quickly join the rock talk that ensued.

For some strange reason a mention of birds was made by the rock hounds. In an attempt to include me in the conversation my husband called me over to weigh in on the avian talk. This was risky. I knew I was incapable of speaking in a taciturn manner but the talk of birds was irresistible. Once I opened my mouth it was game over. I rambled on about the migrating fall birds, the birds in the area and my love of birds.

The rock hounds politely stared at me, and, quite frankly, I think a couple of them had their hearing aids turned down. I received nary a verbal or body language response from them. Finally, I ended my soliloquy with, “Remember to look up once in a while when you're looking for rocks. A bird might be flying by.”

Silence. Silence.

End of story.

I am glad we were not able to check in to our cabin early so we had the opportunity to meet these local gentlemen and experience their incredible depth of rock and mineral knowledge. But, I think I might need to study up on rockese before the next time I join a conversation with them. Clearly, I need to learn how to get right to the point.