backroad sign

i was driving along an ofrrum offrum road last week and i passed this sign, which made me happy.

on my way back i stopped to take a picture and the man whose sign it was came out of his shack to talk with me.

"i like your sign", i said, "and i'd like to take a picture if that's ok with you."

it was totally ok with him. he told me about his house, which is not the shack near the road. the shack near the road has electricity and running water and internet access so if he wants those things he hangs out in the shack. the house which is much nicer, and where his dogs are, is up the hill a couple hundred yards.

and that kind of explains why the shack has so many windows and amenities but does not look large enough to live in.

and to an extent it explains a bunch of other odd architectural and decorative details, like the two-tiered tree towers with the glass fronts, sort of like a tree house, but clearly the work of a grownup for grownups.

the man (let's call him jesse) says his new sign is because people have been complaining about his old signs, and driving by and taking pictures and then complaining to the town boards but of course there are no rules governing what kinds of things you can have on your front lawn sign, so they're out of luck.

"it's all for entertainment", he tells me, and i am given to understand that it is his own entertainment mostly.

but also i get the feeling he is political. and i think he's a bit of "an eccentric", which makes him of my tribe. i get the feeling that he maybe shares some of the same political beliefs i do, although i can't be too sure.

i bet you a nickle he's for 2d amendment rights and world peace, and probably civil rights for gays, but i don;t know. around here it's an easy bet that everybody hates government corruption. our state republican party tends to lean left and our democrats lean right. we elect bernard sanders term after term, so assuming this guy is against something the government did is kind of like picking low hanging fruit.

he invites me to come back in summer and see his garden, which he says, is a political display of beautiful perennials and he is very proud of it.

he seems sensitive and timid about it, which kind of fits: signs and flowers about your views, but deferential in conversation.

he invites me to come visit anytime.

maybe i will.