Helpless?

Fran, who lives about a mile down the road, called a little while ago and told me there was a man, a woman and a wagon in her front yard.

I was already headed in that direction on my way to the post office, so I stayed on the phone as I drove to her house and yes, there was a man and a woman with their wagon resting in the shade of Fran's front yard.

Fran's mom had already spoken to the man, who said he and his mother were headed toward Pendleton on their way to Highway 29. They'd left from New Orleans with their wagon, and were on their way to Washington, D.C.

Since he's pulling their possessions by himself in an open wagon (it looked about 4x6 feet long), someone had towed their wagon behind a vehicle across Georgia (since human-drawn wagons are apparently prohibited on public highways in The Peach State) and they'd stopped to rest on the side of the road in front of Fran's mom's house.

Fran's mom asked if they needed anything and the man said No there was nothing, and they had plenty of food ... but would she mind if they spent the night in her yard? She agreed, and Fran's [Marine] boyfriend is going over to spend the night, for security ... and just in case.

Even though the man and his mother insisted they were fine and didn't need anything, you gotta wonder what it's like walking, or pulling a heavy trailer, and sleeping beside two-lane country roads all the way from New Orleans to Washington. There's a heaviness, something sad that says This isn't The Third World and things shouldn't be this way. Even though the man said they were fine and had all that they needed, I'm having a hard time believing it.

I'm not being facetious, but maybe a guy who can pull a wagon with his mother on board over country roads all the way from New Orleans to the nation's capital knows a whole lot more about himself than I care to ever find out about myself. He's sure got more heart, more persistence and more vision than me, for sure.

Kinda leaves you wondering who, or if anybody, will be waiting when they finally arrive up in D.C.