While I was on a photo walk with my new friend, Hannah, I shot this sign which is the name of an art gallery in downtown Richland. The store wasn't open yet so I just looked at all the cool stuff in the window. Chances are extremely high that I would never buy anything in this store but I'm glad it's there. Somebody must be buying stuff there because in these tough times there are a lot of businesses going under. The rent has got to be pretty high.
It reminded me of the pottery shops that were within a block of the courthouse in Yuma. I used to walk on my lunch hour in the winter when it wasn't blazing hot and I'd walk past this one little store front where a woman sat everyday with a a piece of clay on a potter's wheel, making shapes out of earth. She had an old, golden retriever who was always sitting at her feet. We'd exchange smiles. I never went into those shops until after I left my job at the courthouse. One of my friends at hospice was looking for some unique Christmas gifts so we took a ride downtown and I finally went into that pottery shop.
I love, love, love hand-made pottery. But the thing is, I always want to meet the person who made it. I think artists are the most interesting people. Anyway, I ended buying a couple of coffee mugs and these super cute little coffee scoopers. I gave one to my dad's life partner, Nancy, and she says she thinks of me when she uses it. I wish like crazy I would have bought one for myself, but I didn't. And, I wish I had taken my camera with me just once to snap a photo of that woman making pottery with her dog at her feet.
The friend I took downtown that day bought me a little salsa dish with a spoon from that shop for a going away gift when I left Yuma. I have never used it, but I treasure it. Another friend bought me a really pretty mug from the same store. I carried it around after I moved here but I recently gave it away to a friend who really admired it.
I do that sometimes ... just give things away. When I worked at hospice in Yuma, I used to wear this lilac, purple'ish shirt in the winter time. One of the nurses always had to say something nice about it every time I wore it. On my last day at work there, I gave it to her. This was not an original idea of mine. Before I worked at hospice, one of the legal secretaries at the county attorney's office, Blanca, had a really pretty lacy shirt that I always loved when she wore it. One day I came to work and she had put it in a pretty bag and gave it to me.
Some things are worth keeping and some things are worth giving away.
what an awesome idea! i'll have to give it a try!
ReplyDeleteWell I will not.... well maybe ....but prob not give that coffee scooper to you. Like you said somethings are worth keeping. And you are a keeper Sue. Love ya.
ReplyDeleteHonestly don't know what I have that is WORTH anything to anyone else that I COULD give away. I have some books, that maybe someone would want. Have record albums that maybe? Oh an maybe a table saw, my Craftsman table saw, that I built a ton of stuff with. Used it making all the mouldings and such in our little place in Yuma. Framing for the alcove and double closet area in that same little place. Also for mouldings and cutting bracing and such for the cabinets in Susan's Aunt and Uncle's {Al & Cindy} kitchen remodel in Yuma.. so got a lot of good use out of it, but now have a Delta that has bigger table, cast iron, and is just a better saw. But that old craftsman still has a lot of cuts to make, for someone else.
ReplyDeleteWell, Gene, sometimes I wear your flannel shirts ... if you gave me just one ... I wouldn't have to keep wearing all the rest.
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