Update #5.3 - What Really Happened at the Borders

Denny and I sat our bags down in the cafe part of what looked to be the coolest Borders in Indiana. It had been converted from an old bank, so the metal bars and old type-set remained embedded in the walls. Meanwhile, a young woman rearranged a shelf of 2009 calendars which shouldn't have been there in the first place. Not only did they cover half a year that was already in the past, but they were all cat and dog specific. She knocked down a baker's dozen of the assorted canines and I jumped up to assist her.

As a note, it's far less awkward to initiate a conversation when you're naturally helping someone in need. Note also that I say "naturally." It can become far *more* awkward if you just show up and start pushing someone's baby stroller when they were perfectly fine doing it themselves.

"Is there some sort of fascination with dogs and cats here?" I asked her, as I picked up some calendars off the floor.

"Ha! No, not really. And the strange thing is that there's about four types of every one....Look!" She showed me the Yellow Labrador 2009 calendar. Next was the Labrador Retriever 2009, the Labrador 2009, and finally the Black Lab Monthly 2009 with Holidays marked in red Calendar. We laughed.

I asked her if she was from around Indy, since I was from out of town, and she explained that she had lived in northern Indiana until she was married to a man of the city. "Cool," I said, and the conversation continued for some time.

Eventually, she started asking me questions about where I was from and when the subject of the road trip came up I decided to tell her exactly what was up, and she was pleasantly intrigued. Excited about what we were doing, and glad to have a chat, she told Denny and I a few places we could go evangelize (she was a Christian herself, it turned out, which is always encouraging), and away we went.

Before leaving, she told me this: "My sister goes to places a lot and sits down hoping that someone will come and preach the gospel to her. She's a Christian, so she doesn't need to be converted or anything, but she wishes more people would go around evangelizing. No one's ever done it. I'll be sure and tell her about you."

No life changing experience, but I think we all left each other encouraged. And at this stage of the trip, little conversations like that have immense power to keep us going with a spring in our step. But more of that to come...

~Alan Halbrooks