You ever slept on the dirt floor of a garage?

I've read all of Charles Kuralt's books.  Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and a few other authors also sit on my nightstand or the back of the tub.  I have always enjoyed hearing the experiences of a lifetime. Everybody has a journey and if I slow down and listen long enough none of them are boring.

Owning a business on a major highway means that at least once a summer you will have the opportunity to hear a life's journey.

Six years ago a mobile young man, age 65, came walking into the parking lot with a large backpack attached.  Wearing a camouflage hat and a worn pair of shoes, one could tell he was out for a hell of a walk.  Coast to Coast that is.

Jim Bragg from Abbotsford, Wisconsin was out for a walk and needed a place to spend the night.  We rolled out the red carpet.  Actually it was a blue tarp on a dirt floor of a metal garage.  It was here that Jim set up his tent and slept for the night, 60 feet away from one of the busiest railroads in the nation. We started a small fire, cooked some hot dogs, ate some salad, and roasted some marshmallows.  Dylan had just completed a new potato cannon so we broke out the hairspray and launched some russet's over Highway 30.  We ate, we laughed at those taters, and we visited.  You could spend a million dollars on a dozen college degrees and you'll still never have the knowledge and life experience that Jim Bragg has.  He talked about farming, milking, maple trees, and a lot about the strong work ethic and family values of the Amish.  Try running your farm with no tractors or electricity!  I enjoyed every minute of his stories.

About two years after his stay in a metal garage, located way too close to the tracks, he returned. This little old man, walking a little slower, and a little more hunched over, came walking down the isle of the greenhouse carrying something in his hand.  That little brown bottle in his hand would seal my love affair with Wisconsin and Jim Bragg.  Maple syrup the Wisconsin way.  No, No I won't share it! Not with anybody, noway, nohow.  On this visit Jim ate supper with us and spent the night in our spare bedroom.  He claimed he slept a little better due to the insulation between him and the train tracks.  Nearly every summer since, Jim has stopped and every summer he extends an offer to visit him and I fully expect to take him up on the offer.  Maybe summer 2016!  He promised he would give us a tour and we'd go home with an understanding of the Amish life and in no way do I doubt him.  Sometimes I fall asleep at night thinking about a trip to Abbotsford, Wisconsin, maple syrup, and a wise old man that walked off the highway in Shelton, Nebraska.  Every Christmas he sends a calendar of the Amish way and I anxiously await the arrival of a book of his Coast to Coast journey.