our business – our life – antiques – food – travel – art
I don’t know what it is about certain times of year but the urge to talk to my Gram comes and goes and today it’s hitting pretty hard. Questions that I’ll probably never know the answer to – that’s a real regret.
Gram – why did you start collecting antiques? What was your favorite piece? I wish you could see some of the cool things we’ve found and talk to you about them. I miss you so much.
Show me the slow, dusty, forgotten vintage and antique shops in the tiny towns that dot the United States of America.
Show me long forgotten treasured vases, art, and planters, small brass pieces and barley twist candle sticks.
Show me things that I’ve never seen before so I can drink it all in and remember for those who have been long gone.
Show me the well worn quilts and dish towels that were so carefully crafted by the Grandmothers, Mothers, and Daughters who have passed years before.
Show me the old photos and the travel souvenirs that remind us how vast this amazing country is and how every place has it’s own feel and rhythms.
Show me the knowledge corner in tiny little gas stations as we travel from one small town to the next in search of our next gasp of breath at something so incredibly beautiful that we could never have imagined it.
Show me the well worn wooden chairs, dinner tables, primitive kitchen tools, old dusty working man’s tools, and the woven baskets that hold all their own memories and those beloved people’s thoughts and cares that bore witness to all the joys, trials, sadness, and love of those who kept them.
Show me all of these things and I will take them all in to my heart and mind in order to remember the hard working people who crafted, cried, celebrated, and created our vintage and antique history. I will bear witness and testify for those that are no longer here to share their stories and memories.
I love finding art made by local people about local places in North Carolina – it goes back to that old mystery for me personally – I’ve never understood why this southern area resonates so hard in my soul but it does. I’ve felt like this is my HOME more years than I ever did anywhere else.
And sometimes the emotions are just really unexpectedly strong at times – like with this situation.
We found this at an estate sale, pretty much forgotten, just hanging on a wall, dusty – no price tag. It appeared nobody was interested but I think it’s beautifully done – pencil drawing of a small town grocery store: Brown Summit Grocery.
I’ve been excitedly looking for any information on the artist and the place and today, I found the location where it used to be on Google Maps. And ya’ll.
My heart is literally a little broken from what it showed.
May 2015 is the last time in Google that it had activity – looks like a local salvage kind of sale.
The first pic I found (below) just broke my heart. 
Gets even worse the more I looked – I found this article
They had this follow up article.
I still haven’t found any information about the artist but seems good that this little place is remembered in a good way for people like me to find years later.
The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.
#morethanthesumofitsparts #sunshine #oldglass #oldbuildings #rendered
Standing at a counter
and having a random
conversation with
the counter lady
and I look
into the room
and
see the person
teaching class
and think to myself
I don’t know that person
and it’s the norm now.
I strive to catch the eye
of one of my
favorite participants
trying to not make it an
obvious show
but they are lost
in their own world
and work.
Then the teacher
turns and faces forward
and I suddenly notice
the way their
hair wisps and bounces
and the way they move
strikes a familiar memory.
So I turn my full focus to their side profile and i am dumbfounded.
I do know this person.
We used to be friends
I had originally wanted to post one photo – but that’s impossible as the title conveys. Ending a long term friendship – in short, it sucks.
I have a lot of big ass feelings still – because there was no closure really. 7 plus years and it just ended because I wasn’t doing what she wanted. I wrote the below text when I was in a certain frame of mind. It comes and goes. Because today? I’m still pissed that she’s such an unforgiving and controlling bitch.
It just depends on the day I guess.
What is the best picture to portray a heartbreak a picture to describe how it feels to lose your very best friend not because that best friend died or anything as large as that but instead over something that could easily have been talked through if both people were actually open to forgiveness.
Unfortunately when one of the people refuses to let go of that hurt no matter how much you apologize or try to make it better it’s never going to be the same and at that point you have to decide whether you just give up trying and just go away or if you try to make another big stand and have a big conversation it never really gets resolved anyways. And you know that because you already tried several times to have that open and honest communication and you were in fact told that she didn’t know whether she’d ever be able to forgive you.
So at that point you can continue to wear sackcloth and ashes or you can just quietly go away.
The crappy part about it is that there’s no closure not really and you’re stupid hopeful heart always wishes that it could’ve been different or they could’ve been better or or something and you don’t talk about it much when you never reference it in public to mutual friends because that would be weird right although honestly those mutual friends picked sides even when they said that they never would do that.
But you feel it you think about it sometimes maybe there’s a memory of stupid Facebook memories pop up and you’re like oh yeah that was something and or you run into her an old acquaintance who knew both of you and I actually don’t know that you’re not speaking anymore they’re always asking hey how are they doing and you say yeah they’re doing pretty good and you just keep going so it comes out when you’re feeling a little blue or it comes out in your stupid dream or wishful dream where things are actually resolved and wake up and they’re not resolved and it’s still the same and it hurts again for a little while until you push it to the back burner and live your daily life.
And then those days just blending together and all of a sudden it’s months later months later and then I guess it’s just a memory Or a lesson either way…
What single photograph can show all of that?
