"The Tonopah Angel" by Midge Baker
(c) 2008 (c) 2013 by John and Midge Baker
Oh no...
"There's no recycling center in Tonopah." the man had just said. Now that was going to be a problem...
Since January 1996, we'd been staying with my best friends, in Gold Hill, OR. We were homeless and living in our camper. They had an orchard, a truck garden, goats, geese, and chickens. In exchange for a safe place to park our camper and the use of electricity, John tended the orchard and worked part time for a drywaller. I cleaned house, picked fruit and vegetables, helped in their booth at the weekly Farmer's Market, and fed the animals. That included our own wee beasties.
Months earlier, we'd found two kittens abandoned in two different places we'd camped. One was Miss Skitty, the other was Buster. In March, Miss Skitty had had babies.
We stayed in Gold Hill until April '97 while looking for fulltime work, but the Oregon economy was at its lowest ebb. There were no real jobs to be had.
So we packed up camper, cats, and kittens, and headed to Nevada to look for work.
We traveled by doing the "change thing" with the last of our food stamps. They still used the real stamps then, not the debit cards they have now. You could use a dollar food stamp to buy a pack of gum or a 10-cent candy and get back real cash money in change. In Oregon then, you paid a nickel deposit on glass, aluminum, and glass soda pop and beer containers. Once empty, the containers could be returned to local merchants for a refund on the deposits.
As we drove, we would stop every mile or so in good areas and then walk back and collect any "nickel deposits" we'd spotted. We'd raid the dumpsters in campgrounds and rest areas. The change and nickel deposits paid for our food and gasoline.
Once we got out of Oregon, they didn't pay nickel deposits anymore, but most towns had a recycling yard that paid for aluminum cans by the pound. By the time we'd get to one town, we'd have just about enough aluminum cans to recycle to buy food and such, and buy enough gas to get to the next town.
This caught us out once.
It was early evening when we stopped at the rest area just outside Tonopah, NV. We had a good load of aluminum cans but just enough gas to make it into town but not out again. That's when we found out Tonopah didn't have a recycling yard.
Dreck!
We prayed, "Uh, Papa (as we refer to Our Father), we could use a little help here..."
Then we went to bed for the night. It had been and exhausting drive from Klamath Falls, OR. where we'd spent the night before.
The next morning, I got up early while John slept in. He did most of the driving and needed his rest. I started breakfast, then headed for the restroom.
When I came out, I was overcome by an eerie feeling, and looked down the highway.
As I watched, scenes from the TV show "Touched by an Angel" flitted into and out of my mind. A big yellow Cadillac was coming, out from the direction of Tonopah.
It pulled into the rest area. Right next to our camper, it stopped.
The man driving it left his engine running, got out of his car, walked straight up to me and said, "Does your husband know anything about alternators? I think mine's gone bad."
How did he know I was married? John was not visible. He was still inside the camper.
John hollered out the window, "Just a mintue, sir," then stepped down out of the camper.
"I'm not a mechanic, but I know a little bit about them," he continued.
"Do you think," the driver asked, "that I can make it back into town?"
"I'm sure the car will be okay as long as the engine is running," John said. "Do you want me to take a look at it in case it's just a loose wire or something?"
The man said no, thanked John for his time. Then to our amazement and joy, he handed John a $20-bill! John tried to refuse it, but the man insisted we take it.
Then he got back into his car and drove back into Tonopah!
That money got us to the next town past Tonopah, where there was a recycling yard.
Thank you, Papa, thank you!
Update: I was inspired to post this story by pajoly's diary Angels Among Us?
You'd be surprised how often things like this happen. Google "angels" and you'll find thousands of such stories.
I've had several more such incidents in my own life.
Call it God, karma, or even synchronicity, ask and ye shall receive may be a fundamental priciple of the Universe.