the broomsman and the brit

it was a beautiful spring day (i guess? really? is spring here?) as i walked around shakertown, after begrudgingly paying $7 to go in buildings and photograph them. the woman at the desk ignored my request to pay only $5 dollars, being an asbury student (sort of) and having been to shakertown multiple times to photograph it the last 3-some years of my college life. she clearly recognized me, and ignored again my comment stating i didnt need a map, or a page of events, or an explanation of shaker-heritage (again, what was this? maybe say, oh, my 40th time being there, within the last 3 years???) so i took the map, stood at the desk for another 10 minutes while she circled all the buildings that were open and kept handing me the sleeve of events, after i kept putting it back in the pile. (this happening more than 3 times) it was quite comic really. so i finally left the building, shoved the sticker pass in my pocket and walked over to the first, and largest building. after photographing it quite extensively, i moved on to another building...finding that the majority of the buildings were only open to "lodging guests only" i was again infuriated at the fact that i had to pay $7. finally i came to the broom-making-building, and a man approached me -maybe 40-some-odd-years-old. he began explaining the broom-making process to me, again after i explained that i was a college student, who had visited various times only to photograph the village...and hinting that i didnt really want to hear the whole speel (sp?) again. though the man was quite persistent i finally gave in and just listened to him. however, the conversation got interesting when he began talking about his friend, a brit, (from brittian) who made a living hiking trails all around europe and journaling about his experience, then selling them to tourism magazines/agencies. it was quite the story. but i have to go to work, so ill tell more about the broomsman and the brit later.