2/19/2020
Good grief! It’s been 3 weeks since I added to the “trove” of delightful words here! My only excuse (if one is needed) is I’ve been busier than normal. A couple of notes back I wrote about the Blue Jug re-opening after being closed for 32 days. While I’m not in charge of the store, I do try to help when hours need to be filled and that is part of the busyness. Another part is we have this project under way to get our present home ready to put on the market, while starting to remodel the house in old Fort Payne in which we will move. I’m not my own contractor, but we didn’t hire a “general” so Barb is very busy and often needs me to help her be the “general” in getting all the little things done, things we don’t want to hire anyone to do. Whew! Just saying that tires me out!
As to the Blue Jug, we’re really enjoying the location and the new products and “bakery” emphasis, which has meant new customers. This is all very delightful! Yesterday, we hosted a morning meeting of downtown merchants who are busy planning the cooperative activities for Downtown Fort Payne’s seasonal promotions and events. Of course, that’s in addition to being open as usual. We’ve gotten busier because of where we’re located and what we’re adding to inventory, both of which brings more people per day than we had been getting in the old location. (Frustrating as it was to be given a deadline to “get out” of the old place, we knew someday we’d probably thank them for it—that day is here already.)
Really looking forward to the day we can take pictures of the newly remodeled house and make a side-by-side comparison of the old and the new. It will be a stark difference, hopefully from old and tired look to renewed and vibrant. The exterior may take a while longer to makeover and so comparison pictures will be down the road a ways. But, we’re sure it will come out to be very comfortable and easy to care for, etc. This is more of a learning experience than we expected or needed, but we’ll get through it and tell the story a few hundred times, I imagine. We both like to tell the stories as they are remembered—we’ll need to keep comparing notes about who did what and what caused that or this. We might make a slide show and speaking tour out of it—sell tickets, you know?
Coming up in a few days (10) is the Conference Retreat we go to in Gatlinburg, TN each year. A great time of fellowship with a bunch of friends. Then, two weeks after that, my brother Jack hosts a conference in Arab, AL where we get to fellowship with some more long time friends and fellow believers. Five weeks later, we will go to Texas for a conference but with a couple of extended days, hoping to visit some old friends in New Braunfels and around. This could get to be an exciting and fulfilling Spring.
SIMH—Paul McCartney and Wings (post Beatles) had a huge hit called My Love about 1993, but this morning it was and is still rolling around in my head as though it was a favorite of mine. It wasn’t. But, as I’ve said before, I don’t seem to have any perfect or lasting control about which song pops into my head upon awakening. Just before eye-opening and hearing Wings, I was dreaming about an old friend in Texas coming into my house and sitting down and not being able to see me—then, boing! awake to Paul McCartney? No, I don’t understand.
Seems I’m just now beginning to understand all there is around here close for tourists to enjoy. Having made friends with the director of tourism, some adamant and strong willed people passionate about Little River, as well as some “old-timers” who know a lot about the 100 years ago era of Boom in Fort Payne, there is just a myriad of little showy and/or unusual things here. We have a well preserved Train Station filled with mementos, story boards and pictures of the glory days of railroading (as well as a miniature railroad museum;) a Hosiery Industry Museum (Fort Payne for many years was the “Sock Capital of the World” before NAFTA. Now that it’s gone, SCW may rise again!!), an 18th century Opera House, and on and on it goes—much to see. By way of a tiny commercial for Blue Jug Alkaline Water and Health Markets, these things I just mentioned are within my sight as I stand at the door of the store. Stop in to get the world’s best water and see all the sights at the same time!!
Then, of course, there is the mountain top experience: Lookout Mountain which runs from Chattanooga, TN, coming our way and on down another 40 miles or so to Gadsden, has many sites to see: Cloudland State Park (GA), then Mentone, then DeSoto Falls, DeSoto State Park, and then Little River Canyon Federal Preserve with more than one Falls, all the trails you’ll need to get worn out, and the Jacksonville State University Park Center—and that’s all up there. C’mon down the hill and you get to see the first batch of stuff I mentioned and more.
[Editor’s Note: the above two paragraphs were not an application for a job with the tourist industry—just thought you should know that.]
Thanks for reading, the Elder
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