We were perusing the bread. As she leaned slightly in front of me to retrieve her selection, she apologized. After reassuring her, I asked about her pick; it was sourdough. And then, without further ado, we commenced.
She'd moved down from Halfway onto 30 acres and was "spraying weeds." Her eyes lit up when I mentioned the accordion, adding that she'd put in a request (somewhere) to be alerted if "one came in."
She'd started playing the piano at age three but it wasn't until 7 they got her a teacher. She went at it all day, motivating the brothers to cover their ears and plead, "Make her stooooop!"
When I asked how she'd come to Baker she said it was a long story; I suggested we find somewhere to sit, but she had animals waiting to be fed. She suggested lunch in a couple of days. Whupping out my "card," I enthusiastically agreed.
I found a spot a few miles south of Baker with good cell and spent the first day recovering from doing laundry and shopping.
The weather shifted and by the end of the third day it was getting pretty chilly. Time to head south.
But there were twenty minutes or so there where I, once again, experienced the magic of "connection."