The Hut

Another "cheese sandwich" type of experience: I took a beer out to a quiet spot that I like on the outskirts of town . It's oil-painting scenery here; overlooking fields with the mountains in the background. Often I can find these huts empty, and enjoy them all to myself.

Today there was a drunk there and I thought I'd go to another, but I like this one. I thought maybe he'll leave soon, but he didn't, and I'll be ever grateful for that. We talked a little although neither could understand a word. We just said stuff. I told him how I liked the place, he told me what he wanted, or maybe needed, to say. He was lying down on the wooden bench opposite me the whole time. After we finished "chatting", he pulled out a battered harmonica. "Here we go, time to leave," I thought. But it was beautiful. He didn't have a clue how to play, nor did he care. He just slowly played long notes one after the other. On any other day, you'd get up and leave, but it was so soothing that when he stopped I encouraged him to play some more, lay down on my wooden bench and absorbed it all.

The only problem was that I had broken my Mae Sot Golden Rule: NEVER, EVER leave the camera behind. I could have filmed the whole thing if only the battery wasn't on charge at home!