Traveling Solo: First Day in Hartwell

Friday, September 23, 2016

First Day in Hartwell

Growing up in Georgia, I saw this countless times--a woman hanging clothes on a line. An iconic scene, rarely seen anymore.

Today we were driving down Old 29 when I saw this woman looking out at the highway behind her clothesline.

"I wish I could take a picture of her," I said to Mike--but I thought it might appear odd to her to be photographed by a stranger.

"Oh, I know her," he said, turning the truck around. Turns out he had taken her flowers one day because she reminded him so much of Laura, the "woman who raised me."

Annie Ruth MaCain was born in 1928. She's tiny and strong with the smoothest skin and twinkling eyes. We talked for a while and Mike gave her his phone number and invited her to come have dinner with us sometime. After a short visit in the yard, she said we'd made her day--and she'd made ours.

"You make him behave himself," she said.

"That will be hard," I said.

"When you ain't here, I'll be taking notes," she said, laughing.

Then we popped into a new arts gallery in downtown Hartwell and met two very special women of our tribe--Bernie supporters, no less!

Diana and Kathy own the Hang It Up Gallery, and they live upstairs. It's an amazing old building, beautifully remodeled by them and a couple of friends. This is the view from upstairs, looking down on the gallery.

Mike loved the architecture which included a huge old vault that was used for keeping money for cotton traders in the past. We both loved the gallery space and the women who live there and run it.