Things Just off the Road in Lynchburg, Virginia

1. A shock of bamboo, twice my height, hiding the house behind it.
2. A sign: State Maintenance Ends Here
3. A man, wearing hunting gear from head to toe, except for a small portion where his midriff sticks out, like a teenage girl who’s planned her outfit accordingly. He holds a serious-looking rifle. “Don’t be scared,” he calls out, as my friend and I approach. “We’re not,” I yell back, and then, under my breath, as we approach: “Yes, I am.” “Ya’ll on a walk?” he asks. My friend and I say yes. “I like walks,” he responds, personably. “I like walking these tracks.” He points at the railway tracks one hundred feet away. I picture him walking the tracks for hours, in that hunting getup. I know it’s the wrong image, but I can’t shake it. “What do you hunt out here?” my friend asks. “Deer, mostly,” he says. “Plus their predators. Bobcats, stuff like that.” We nod faux-knowingly. “Can I take a picture of you for my son?” my friend asks. The man squints back. His teeth are oddly sharpened to points. “What for?” “Just to show my son.” The man keeps squinting. He looks pained, as though the question were unanswerable, or the answer unsayable. “I’ll take that as a no,” my friend says, and we turn away.
4. A party. At least it sounds like a party. Blasting top 40 music. Is it coming from the woods? From the car dealership? From the trailer houses down the road? Unclear. We would like to go, but we would get laughed at, and that’s the best-case scenario.
5. A trampoline, an above-ground pool, three dog cages, one barking Beagle, four tiny kids’ chairs huddled together, a Confederate flag, a No Tresspassing sign, all in one yard.