She picked me up and we headed out. She has one of those reverse camera things in her car which I found horribly distracting but holy moly the picture quality on those things is insane.
It was a pretty chilled little outing where we visited all the artsy-craftsy shops. Colourfully packed with goodies from arty teas to laser cut trinkets, paintings, murals, funky creations of all descriptions.
We exchanged friendly greetings and conversations with shop owners, I listened intently and with compassion to the story of Zoë who started Zoë's Emporium and who died of cancer a few years later. Her legacy remains and she has presence in that shop.
I found myself trying a wicker chair that my friend has been coveting for months - the universe clearly wants it to be hers but she keeps leaving it there for some reason.
The smell of curry wafted over and made my tummy start having a conversation with me "Andy, you should eat whatever smells like that " I think it was trying to tell me. I nervously glanced over to the lady at the restaurant desk but she looked decidedly bored and her mind was somewhere else entirely so my tummy's incessant chiding wasn't being acknowledged by anyone other than me right then.
This pretty mural outside held my gaze for some time as I looked at her demeanour and tried to work out what she was thinking, feeling, experiencing at that moment.
I sent up some thoughts to the artist before heading out to do some "marketing". Gosh I must be the worst person for this kind of thing, but Pamela thought my candles were lovely and has kept a full set of samples to discuss with the co-owner. There was talk of "wholesale" and "sole supplier" stuff which we discussed and with my new labels fresh off the printer, I think I may have my foot in the door. A welcome change to having it in my mouth. In the next couple days I'll pop in there and have a follow up discussion.
Once we had our fill of window shopping opportunities, we stopped by her son's work and they had a catch up session while I chatted to one of the staff members. Turns out they might want to have a look at my candles too, so who knows, something may come of it.
We then went umbrella hunting. This strange beast is an absolute bitch to nab. It's either striped like a zebra but in gaudy colours, spotted like something out of a 70's movie or the stand doesn't fit the deck at my friend's house. Umbrella beasties come in all the wrong shapes and sizes apparently but she was wise and simply settled with Henry Ford's idea of "you can have it any colour as long as it's black". A bottlebrush plant also found it's way into the shopping cart and she let me know later that she planted it this afternoon.
She dropped me back at the cabin and I smiled when I sat down with a cup of coffee. It was a really nice little excursion talking shit in the car, swearing in unison at rogue drivers, laughing together when her breaking almost catapulted me into the dashboard.
The little shops we visited are gems that make this town quite unique and quaint. The time, effort and love that goes into them and all the creations that they hold...made with loving care by folk like you and me, curated into these elaborated collections of explosive colour and character. The heart and soul of this town shines through places like these, and it's lovely to experience. My friend's breaking skills on the other hand? Lol, not so much.
All images are my own
