Street Walker

So there is this woman that walks back and forth from Hadley to Carvers, about a 14 mile round trip, almost everyday.  You always see her when your going to and from work the, the grocery store, or headed out of town.  She has this beautiful husky that is her walking companion and she has this crazy curly dark long hair and she is really tan, with wool socks a backpack and hiking boots.  To my knowledge she is not employed since she spends most of her days walking along the highway with her dog, which i think is kind of romantic.

I like to make up stories for her life, like she is really a steal barons heiress daughter but rejected her trust (or just lives off of it) to be a hermit in a trailer park in Carvers with her dog.  Or she is in witness protection and spends her days walking back and forth hiding from the mob, or the russian mob, or the irish mob.  Like she has her whole trailer booby trapped for the day when thy finally find her and come for her.

Some days i see her walking without her dog. The first day it happened i was literally in a panic. I had just recently lost Fred and was a total wreck anyways.  But i saw her walking without her beautiful big husky and was literally in tears for her cuz i know how sad i was losing Fred, i though she must be devastated, her only friend in the whole world who was keeping her company in her seclusion was dead (i still had my friends and my family and a car).  Needless to say it was not a good day and i was a little surprised at the strength of my feeling for this random person and her dog. It's like they used to tell snipers watching there targets to make up stories about there targets to keep them from getting bored while they waited. Then when it was time to pull the trigger they had built such elaborate stories that some people couldn't do it cuz they were attached to these strangers.  That is kind of how i felt.  Two days later when i saw her walking with her dog again it was a really good day because i knew she had a friend again. 

In some ways i am envious of this woman's off the grid lifestyle.  I mean how does she do it?? So there is the trust fund, or her wit pro money, or more likely her disability money cuz she is a real crazy.  How and why Round mtn? Where was she before?  When was the last time she left the valley?  I am just totally fascinated by her lifestyle and inexplicably drawn too it. Im not that far away from it actually.  To just spend your days walking the desert with your dog with your own thoughts and feelings and your dog to keep you company.  Sure lonely at times but nothing but complete and total freedom. A life with no obligations or expectations (ok you have to feed your dog) but it is the totall freedom to build your life how you see fit with out pressure from other people or worrying about their opinions or how your decisions will effect them. 

She is like the female version of Howard Roark to me.  She is probably some brilliant artist living in obscurity for her art. Like when Howard would go back to working in the quarry when new york and all of it's preconceived ideas would not allow him to exist. He could still exist and be true to himself in the quarry when new york made it impossible.  So to me Smoky Valley is this highway walkers quarry where there is no compromising.  Obviously i have issues