It’s the little things...

I have a theory — really I suppose it is Quentin Tarantino’s theory — it’s all about the little things as John Travolta’s character says in Pulp Fiction. Most things are the same all over the world and it’s just the little differences that you can look for that make travel rewarding by reminding you how much everywhere that people are just people. Not much of a theory I suppose but still something to live by.

Today was very much about the little things.

The day started off very cold and clear ( at least for Virginia in March). I had to disconnect the water before going to bed last night due to the temperature so in the morning we had no food and no water still. So it was off to the continental breakfast the park provides. There I met a nice couple who now maintain the breakfast buffet for the park — they were orginally from Maine and New Hampshire but still found it remarkable that someone was out in a t-shirt in -6c weather... Canadians! They sold-up nine years ago and joined the trailer lifestyle and have been here for a few years. For breakfast it was little details — things I would try while travelling because I’ve never seen them at home like Peanut Butter and Honey Flavoured Oatmeal ( not as bad as it sounds) and a toasted Bagel with Pecan and Honey flavour cream cheese ( not as good as it sounds — too sweet and not enough pecans). Both are very southern flavours albeit mangled in the processing by big food conglomerates but it does tell a story about local tastes and how they are both similar and different from everywhere else.

After breakfast Rrainy and I ran up to downtown Ashland. We both love antique hunting which means that our house always looks a little like an episode of Hoarders collided with an episode of American Pickers and of course with Lorraine and I in the mix this combo show would be hosted by George Burns and Lucille Ball ( I leave it as an exercise to figure out which is which). We’re now extremely picky about what we buy — there’s not much we need. Much of what we see in these stores is the same — early 20th century mass manufactured art and design stuff but it does vary by regions and those are fun to find. Virginia is long settled so there is some really old bits and pieces that show up in these shops that tell about the lifestyles and what was important to people here over the last couple of centuries. What travelled from the old country. What was brought from the farm to the city. Grandma’s old glassware collected in sacks of flour in the 30’s. Grandfather’s Belgian crystal that he received in the 20’s and so on. These days we’re looking for big bargains that we can re-sell later on eBay (very rare to find in an antique store they all know about eBay). What is more expensive here than at home and might go better than expected on eBay later. Those kinds of little things. So we spent a nice couple of hours prowling through an antique store. Lorraine is looking for Melmac for the trailer ( plastic tableware from the 50’s and 60’s, very kitschy) and very odd pieces of enamelware cheap. Our only purchase — a $20 enamel platter with a garish picture of a turkey on it. Ok, not everyone’s taste, but it’s cheaper than golfing and about the same amount of exercise.

After antiquing we went over to a strange little building in the corner of the parking lot — a little teeny house which was orginally built as the townhall for Ashland in the 30’s and then 11 years ago was moved down the street and into the parking lot of a strip mall. It is now a barbershop and so we went in to get my haircut. Barber’s are always a good place to find the local gossip and news. I’d expected to find a decrepit little old guy who’d be cutting hair for 50 years with old gear and antique barber chairs — we’d missed him by 2 weeks! The shop is now run by two Korean women who’d taken over the business and we got the story of the former barbers and the move of the townhall. She’d moved to Virginia 9 years ago with her Polish husband. Thank goodness for globalization — a heart warming story.

The old town hall.

After the haircut we followed the recommendation of refrigerator repair guy Old-Tom’s recommendation of Jake’s BBQ restaurant on the edge of Ashland. Lorraine had a nice smoked-turkey sandwich and I had their specialty “corny pepper” sandwich with corned-beef on jalapeño corn bread and a nice piece of cocoanut cream pie with a local beer and cider. Turkey was better than corned beef and the beer was better than the cider. A pretty little place and popular with the locals. I think we’re both looking forward to cooking for ourselves again. Old Tom called to say he had the part for the fridge and with that all the drama of yesterday’s search for a fix was dissipated. Lorraine had a nap. I did homework on the representation of direct and indirect thoughts in fiction. Tom came and installed the part in the fridge and it was time for dinner.
Dinner was with an ex-colleague and personal mentor of mine Mike Cerreto and his wife Peggy. Mike is an industrial psychologist and does high performance coaching and cognitive rehabilitation and really helped me to salvage and then re-accelerate a flagging career with HP 15 years ago. I would not have managed to become a director without him. Mike would likely still be plugging along with IT project management and not working as a psychologist and counsellor if it hadn’t been for some advice and support I’ve given him. We used to spend a lot of time on the phone together but had not seen each other face-to-face for years. It was great to catch-up with him and meet Peggy and I hope we’ve convinced them to come vacation with us in Canada. We’ll certainly stop in again here in future trips up or down the 95 corridor.  Mike even picked up the tab!