TheBanyanTree: Boild Peanuts

[NancyIee at aol.com]

That's what the handmade sign said. "Boild Peanuts" was crudely painted on a 
crooked piece of warped plywood that leaned against a twenty-year old station 
wagon along the highway. The owner and his grizzled old dog, were asleep 
inside. Both woke when I pulled off the pavement and onto the gravel verge. The dog 
went back to sleep. The man came around to open the back of the station wagon.

"I'll try some," I said. He nodded and opened the large cooler inside the 
back of the vehicle.

"Taste a few," he said, indicating I should dip my hand in. I did, and was 
surprised to find the peanuts in the cooler steaming hot.

"They best that way," he told me.

Now, I'd had boiled peanuts before, in Georgia, and was not overly impressed. 
But, there was a strange, if passive, persistance in this fellow who parked 
at this spot day after day, rain or humidity or blazing heat. 

I opened and ate the hot inner nuts, which, surprizingly, had a spicy, smoky 
flavor.

"They're good," I said to him."I'll take some."

"I knew y'would," he said with a nod. He was not old, but the slowness and 
awkwardness of his movements indicated a lack of employability. He used a 
styrofome cup to scoop a measure of peanuts into a plastic bag. The inside of the 
bag instantly steamed as he bound the top with a rubber band.

"What do I owe you?" I asked him as he closed the cooler and handed me the 
warm bag.

He shrugged with his whole body. "I seen you drive by near every day," he 
answered.

"Yes, I drive by here a lot," I said. "Every time I have to go into town I 
take this road."

He seemed to think about that. "I don't go to town any more," he said. "Too 
many people."

"I know," I said, laughing. "That's why we live out here, isn't it?"

He nodded and held up two fingers, and I handed him two dollars.

"You drive careful, y'hear," he said as I walked back to my van.

"I will.  And, I'll be back for more peanuts."

"Yep," he said, then waved, and headed back to resume his nap.


NancyLee