today we groggily got up and staggered out into the blistering muggy heat of the current midwest. at the generous suggestion of my mysterious friend shannah (she is mysterious because we have not yet met in real life), we travelled into a little university district on the edge of st. louis called the delmar loop.
really, it is hard to express how painfully hot today was. boris (the car) does not have air conditioning and today was the first day i actually felt sick from the heat.
shannah was right, though; the loop is a perfect neighbourhood for me to try to peddle my wares in. i had asked for suggestions after figuring out i had $70 left in my bank account - no matter how you slice it, that is not enough money with which to drive to rhode island. don't get me wrong; i like visiting stores and meeting independent business owners, but i am not so fond of doing so under duress. i am also not fond of having too little money to accomplish the actual things i have committed to. it stresses me out.
after hopping from store to store to loiter in various air conditionings (i am not usually such a fan), we stumbled upon a little shop called fifi's. it was closed with a sign on the door saying that the new ownership was working hard to reopen soon. behind the windows was busy work (you could tell because ladders were involved). then aitor spotted a 'we carry sublime stitching' sign in the window. it was like a hobo fencepost symbol for travelling neo-crafters. jenny hart, your logo is enough to make me knock for a business card. the shop looks great, by the way, and i wish dennis and emily the best in teir grand reopening. if you are in the area, you should check it out once they are running (very soon).
but our biggest surprise would come from a visit to rag-o-rama, a mostly clothing shop with other branches in indianapolis, columbus and atlanta. it's one of those places where you queue up at a buying table to see what old clothes they will buy. i usually don't deal with the bigger of these buy/sell operations (with notable exception from red light in seattle), but the staff there were really nice and supportive about my stuff so i waited the hour-and-change to have my turn with the buyers. the buyer, nate, poked through my stuff decided to take some of the loose buttons and then went to make a call to the owner for consultation.
"okay, we'll take them," he said when he got back.
"them? all of them?"
"yeah - it will take me a few minutes to count them all."
so there you go. gas money worries are behind me for a little while. but now i have a crud heap of buttons to make before we get to new bedford on saturday. a blessing with new obligations attached, but a much appreciated blessing nonetheless.
at least i left with enough money to hole up in terre haute, indiana, tonight to get some hunkering done.
oh, and as for shannah, we shall meet her for real in september when we come back through these parts for the strange folk festival. until then, she remains a benevolent ghost in the machine...with a great knack for the cosmic natures of mathematics.
good night, plains. rest well. and cool down!
1 comment:
Unfortunately for you, it was officially the hottest week of the year! I am thrilled to hear you had some good luck in the Loop.
See you in September;) Although being a benevolent ghost in the machine will be a hard title to give up.
Post a Comment