A Car Fire, Prarie Home Companion, and St. Peter.... as told by E.

I was a Studio Art major when I was in college. We took a bus tour to the Institute of Arts in the Cities. When we came through this area on the bus, somewhere near Henderson,  I thought what  a special area this river valley seemed to be. Only the rich or the elite must live here.

Sometime later when I was working in a small town near the Minnesota/South Dakota border, a co-worker and I decided we wanted to go to the Cities to see the Prairie Home Companion. My co-worker coerced someone she knew, someone she perhaps wanted to be romantically involved with, an older man, perhaps a sugar daddy, to take us up to Prairie Home Companion.

Problems developed right away. The car burned gas and obviously had issues. My friend and the man started arguing. We got to Belle Plaine and knew the car wouldn't make it. We started towards Mankato. We got to St. Peter and the car started on fire. Right on Main Street. At Christmas time. So much for Prairie Home Companion.
But people from town were so helpful. There were people on the scene right away to help us.

My friend freaked out. She called someone to help, someone she knew.

We had some time on our hands before help came. I walked away from these two who were arguing again. I tried to pretend I wasn't with them. I went into the shops and talked to people and store owners. I went into a book store, had something to eat at a cafe, and went Christmas shopping.

Peple say I'm the friendly type, outgoing. Everytime I looked back, my friend and the sugar daddy were following me, arguing. Eventually the guys parents picked us up. I sat in the backseat with the mother talking about recipes and life.

Two years later I got a job in Mankato. Whenever I drove around, sometimes I'd take a wrong turn, I'd end up in St. Peter.

Eventually I moved here. And I love it here. Looking around at Rock Bend going on, the college, the people and houses....it was the right choice. A great place to live.