A 70-year old husband and wife team criss-cross the country, selling their wares at trade shows. Martha recounts this story:
Every summer, in our GMC Savannah, pulling our RV ‘tag a-long’, we cruise the 401, from the East to the West. A cross-country trek to deliver our own natural skin care products. Market to market with our soaps, oils, salts, creams and lotions.
John, my husband, drives. I navigate. An efficient combo.
I devour the maps, man the phone. I knit, I nap, I wink at the cows.
We blink through small towns. We navigate the ring roads around the cities. We absorb the sounds of the radio and graze from the cooler.
But sometimes, on flatland, like in Southern Saskatchewan, I am courageous enough to take the wheel...
I’m driving on the inside line. I sense a presence on my left, a shadow creeping and growing beside me. The beast is approaching... Breathing down my neck... My heart stops, my blood freezes. I know I'm going to be sucked in. I'm terrified...
But I grip the wheel, holding it steady, preparing for the swoosh trap.
It happens.
I win! Like David, I've beaten the beast. The long sleek body passes. A survival sigh ensues. I look over and see John, laid back, in a comfortable snore. He trusts me against the trucks.”
The inevitable confrontation with 'Goliath' is ongoing as it soars past us on Canada’s number 1 highway.
An unavoidable and challenging omnipotence.
Are they to be abhorred? Admired? Feared?
There is no escape. Together, we challenge a common road space.
We sometimes travel in tandem with another vendor couple, their RV set up mirroring ours. My friend relates the story. It occurs at a truck stop, where she overhears a driver lambasting RV’s. RV’s like ours. The trucker is pontificating to his buddies, describing how he hates RV’s, calling us pompous little vacationers, hogging the road and slowing things down. My friend did not take that lightly. I wish I had been a fly on the wall as she chastised his arrogance, reminding him that SHE was NOT on vacation, that she was transporting her hand made product across the country, and that she was ALSO on a schedule. Same as he, with every much right to travel the 401!
Hopefully, Goliath sees us differently now.
We do work hard. We enjoy the adventure. We especially love the camping in between the shows, the open air, the trees, the barbecuing, the campfires, when permitted. We love the venues and meeting people from all over our country. We know we live in one of the best countries in the world and we are proud to tour it every year. We cross paths with the rigs on the road, but not the drivers. I often wonder if the trucker’s neck gets sore from the constant driving strain. John’s does, but we always have our soothing oil handy to massage in relief. I wonder what kind of life a trucker has, sleeping in the cab, showering at a Husky, grabbing a quick snack, or dining on a full course meal at stops catering to these hard working haulers.
We will continue to travel, to be part of the circuit, to transport our goods to market.
It is all part of what we do.
Enjoy John and Martha's 'Earth to Body' products at www.natural.ca
