We went back to Columbia S.H.P in the Sierras. It has been months, last time it was cold winter and the daylight was extremely frugal. I miss the drive, as we started climbing the foothill, the horizon starts to open up, and cows are dotted on the open ranches, enjoying sunshine and the grass. Old barns and weather vane gives it a character, the scene stays untouched by time.
When we arrived at the town of Columbia, it’s almost 6pm. Tourists are gone by then, so I thought we can have the whole town to ourselves, I didn’t expect there’re some girls dressed up in their prom dresses, photo shooting. The quiet town, soft sun light, old buildings, sparkling dresses glittering under the setting sun, accompanied with their high pitched laughter, it was quite a scene. A tall, slim blonde girl in soft pink dress was directed by the photographer, who is half of her height but full of ideas. She was teaching the pink-dress girl a cutie pose, the pink-dress girl seems too shy and only half way made it. To me it’s perfect, as it’s her prom pose. There’s something new, something old, all mixed up in this town. These prom girls’ hearts probably already swirled away out of this old town, into the prom night and beyond.
Walking down the street, a street performer is still there, even though no audience. I thought he’s packing up for the day. He is middle aged, with suntanned face but bright eyes, he started chatting with us, complimented mama walking so good; she almost outran us. He mentioned he had both hips replaced; yet he can still dance and play basketball! He asked us what is our favorite Mexican restaurant in our town? We felt bad we did not have one, since we don’t dine out that much. He teased us for missing out such an important matter. We wrapped up the conversation with him, then chasing after mama. He started to sing. In a quiet street, without any audience, his voice carries, a soothing and melancholy melody with setting sun melting into the town. He is certainly in no hurry to leave, as his audience is the town, who listens and applauds.
Time for us to go, our favorite local restaurant on the corner smells so good; we grabbed their signature pizza to take home. It’s just perfect as we had our new conversation with our old friend, Columbia!
