A delightful stranger

I picked up a hitchhiker yesterday afternoon after driving by him and his dog numerous times. I saw him for the first time when I went to a friend's house for a play date around ten in the morning and then again when I went to an epicure party at a ranch down the road. I thought for sure someone would have picked him up by the time I headed home, but no, he was still sitting on the side of the road looking as miserable as ever. A quick calculation reminded me that he had been out in the cold (-8 degrees) for at least five hours. His dog was shivering beside him in a blanket and I couldn't help but feel empathy for two of them. Nathaniel had taken Amelia to a church potluck twenty minutes outside of town and I didn't know when he would be home, but I really felt the Lord prompting me to help this guy out. I was nervous when I did a U turn and headed back in his direction, but I had a peace in my heart that the Lord was in it. I asked him where he was going and he said he was trying to get to Kamloops. I found out that he had spent the past twenty six hours outside and had slept in the shack across from the general store. I was appalled. There are no hotels in our community and there is only one restaurant which is not open on weekends. When I realized that he would be spending the night outside again if I didn't invite him to come and spend the night at our house. The sudden relief in his eyes was instantaneous. I couldn't help but think "OH my goodness, I can only imagine what the other officers and their wives would think if they saw me letting a scraggly, bearded man and his pit bull into my car". But, I did it anyway.

After he had thawed out and had a hot shower he didn't waste any time tuning our neglected guitars and filling our home with the most delightful guitar music. It reminded me immensely out the sort of music that Loretta's husband Micheal plays. The sound was a combination of rag time with some punk style blue grass mixed in.

Thankfully my husband didn't seem to mind our rather bedraggled looking guest when he showed up two hours later. He simply told me that he trusts my judgement and trusts me. Oh how I LOVE that about him. Lex (our guest) turned out to be a fascinating young man from Virginia who has been traveling for about five years.He had been touring the states with a band called profane sass and that he had decided to travel to Canada when they decided to tour California. He recently hitched a ride on CN rail across Canada and has since been exploring B.C. He was only twenty two years old although I never would have guessed it with the amount of facial hair he had going on. I had assumed he was in his mid 30's. He was quiet, mature, soft spoken, intelligent and unafraid of adventure and hardship.

His presence was immensely refreshing and he reminded me of simpler times when Nathaniel and I were travelling around the world. In the morning we sent him off with a bag lunch, a sleeping bag we no longer needed and Nate drove him to the next town where he would have a better chance of catching a ride.