On my way toward the third house I saw a man walking along the highway. I had noticed him earlier in the day when we past through Turpin, OK. He was walking south and covering his ears as we passed by. I felt bad for him.. The next town was a 30 minute drive away and he looked exhausted, who knows how long he had been walking.. So I turned around and pulled up in front of him.
Strangely, as I pulled up, he just sat down on the grass and placed his hands on his head.. I asked him if he wanted as ride to Perryton, Tx and he quietly responded with a "no".. I knew something wasn't right, so I decided to walk up to him, pretending that I couldn't hear him with the passing traffic, and asked him again. this time he agreed and walked back to my car with me. Once inside he admitted that he thought, because of my light bar, that I was the police and that was why he sat down earlier and placed his hands on his head.. People often think I am a park ranger or something similar when they see me pull up in my escorting vehicle.
I found the guy to be intriguing and really cool, he asked alot of questions about me and shared loads of information on our various subjects. I think he was trying to show me that he wasn't a stereotypical homeless man. He kept using that word "Stereotype" when we talked about people. for example he asked why so many hotels in the country were owned by Indians and then, before I could respond, he would say that "thats stereotyping". I sensed that he probably dealt a lot with being stereotyped and probably because of his experiences could see when he noticed stereotypes of others.
He saw that I was into arts and kept mentioning artists he had heard of and bits of trivia about them.
Most of his info was a bit misleading, Such as Andy Warhol is currently teaching in Ohio University, but it was obvious that he was proud of the information he had.. He wasn't boasting his knowledge like other people sometimes do, he was eager to share what he had learned from others during his trip and remembered learning from his days in highschool.
The funniest moment was when he asked, after seeing that I was reading a book from a latino author, if I was Cuban. Smiling, I responded with no and asked why he thought that. He said I looked cuban to him and went on to describe the diversity of Cubans. The funny thing is that I have been researching ways to legally enter Cuba and this odd and out of nowhere interaction between us seemed to be sign that I need to go!
All and all the guy was really charming. I learned that he was homeless in St Petersburg, FL and one day began walking toward Alabama. From there he kept going north and somehow got a ride to Missouri. He decided that it was too cold for him there and felt that maybe he should return to Alabama. He is taking a strange out of the way direction to get there, but I don't think he minds. When we got to Perryton, TX he was thinking that maybe Amarillo would be a better idea for the next few months.
I dropped him off at the local truckstop with a few dollars to for food and water. He had everything he owned with him in an old, torn and dirty backpack. and strangely I wanted to be him.. Sure he has to deal with problems that I rarely come across if at all, but still I am drawn to this walk of his. The world he sees must be so different from mine and I want to understand it first hand..
After dropping the Homeless man off, I never did get his name :(, I drove north a few miles to the third house.. I noticed it a few times when we come across the Texan and OK panhandles. The house was a single story, white with red trim and looking picturesque in its green surroundings. The door was easy to open and once inside I found what is possibly the greatest find ever!!! a western Mural on one wall with a tacky floral easychair resting in front.. PERFECT picture!!! I loved it!! the mural had some damage and the ceiling material was all over the floor.
While exploring the rest of the place I noticed the police outside, parked behind Simone.
This is the very first time in the past two years or so that I have ever been caught inside an abandoned house by the police. I wasn't sure how much trouble i was in, but decided that the best thing for me to do was to walk right up to them with my best smile and be completely straightforward.
It worked!!! I put my hand out to shake his, which I think caught him off guard and introduced myself. he asked what I was doing and I quickly explained that I am working on a photo series of abandoned rural houses and came across this one during my travels. He told me that it was probably okay that I photograph the outside but if the owners came by they might not be happy with me. I apologized and said that I fully understand the risk that I was taking, and that I meant no harm except to preserve what I found with photography.
I then brought up how I would love to ask the owners for permission, but with most of these houses being so rural and isolated I never know where to look for the info, and if he had any i would greatly appreciate it.. He did not have any information regarding the owners and couldn't remember a time when there were people living here.. We talked some more and then he drove off leaving me behind to take some more picts... :P:P
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