Mr Langston had been living here for over twelve years. I didn't ask him if he had a wife ..I just figured that she was no longer with him ..maybe divorced or perhaps she had already died. Besides i was really not very interested in hearing his life story..although maybe in another time and in different circumstances i would have loved to hear this old man speak of his many struggles, dreams and accomplishments..and failures...but at this moment in time all i wanted to hear from Mr Langston was ..how much ? and when..?..
We followed him past a few old junked cars that had been stripped down to a bare shell ..past a stack of old tires and an old transmission.. as we got closer to his trailer i noticed that the screen door on the trailer was barely hanging from one hinge and the screen fabric itself had been torn away ...it looked like at one time he tried to repair it by putting a thin sheet of plywood over the bottom section of the screen door. In my eye's this trailer was no different then the junk cars we had just passed..I couldn't help but think how at one time this trailer was perhaps sitting in a lot fresh from the factory waiting to be enjoyed by a family on their vacation..and then i thought..this poor old man was at one time full of energy and vigor and life...and now perhaps after many struggles and battles or self abuse..he himself was showing signs of wear and tear. I felt sorry for him because it was evident that this was a lonely man living out his final day's the best he could.
He pointed toward the door.. moved aside the old screen door and went inside.. gestering for us to come in..We had to step up a bit because the trailer sat on old railroad ties ..He had replaced the original trailer steps with what looked like several wooden pallets stacked on each other. It was strange because just outside next to the door was a vase filled with artificial flowers which had compleatly faded under the harsh desert sun and were weighted down with years of blowing sand...and i imagined how he must have placed them there years ago so that he could enjoy them everyday as he went in and out..and i wondered if they still brought him some joy. It's funny how so many things come into your mind when you see someone living in conditions like this. Well as we stepped in..our senses were jolted by the penetrating smell of smoke ! Just inside the door to our right under a broken window that was covered with cardboard was an old cast iron Ben Franklin wood stove..the door was open and a long two by four was precariously perched on the lip of stove ..here in the desert the mornings can be quite chili even in the summer time. What was strange to me was that the legs of the stove had been removed or broken off and now it was just sitting on an old sheet of metal. And as my eyes wondered away from the stove i noticed that the floor of the trailer was completely covered with sand and dirt and strewn everywhere were papers and old books and magazines ..crumpled up newpapers that he probably used to start his fires..I started to feel a little claustrophobic ..it was a small space and what space there was.. was filled with junk..you could not see what was under the years of accumulated junk..and as i stepped over the junk on the floor to find a clear spot for my wife and I to stand..I noticed that his kitchen sink was filthy..encrusted with what looked like algae and food residue... The only place on the sink that was clean was under the faucet that was constantly leaking..stuck to the walls of the sink i noticed a few business cards that had fallen in and never removed. but then what came to mind was ..perhaps all this junk has some value to him maybe this is his treasure all his worldy possisions ..maybe he felt secure having all his stuff exposed ..available to him when ever he felt a need for it.
I stared over to my wife and she was showing signs of nausea..we had never seen such conditions..how could someone live like this..we were no longer listnening to him ..we were totally absorbed in our disbelieve.
Well after the inicial shock faded we got down to business..he told us how much he wanted for his lot ..we made a counter offer.. he excepted ..and after the short escrow process we were the proud owners of our own slice of the Mojave desert !!
Our focus was on one thing ! Now that we had a piece of raw land..we made plans to turn this slice of the Mojave Desert into something that we could call home...but there was a lot of work to be done ! but now we had to face another set of problems !!
Stay tuned for "Cutting the Umbilical Cord"
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