Americana, Mason Jars, and Grayscale Mountains....

Tunes:"Boy With a Coin"// Iron & Wine



Currently, I'm sitting in Greenbury's. What I said in my last post about coffee shops being the place where I do my best thinking is pretty accurate. Actually, I'd say it's that I am more inclined to blog when I am sitting in a space such as this, or any other, coffee shop. There's bustling workers, side conversations and tasty aromas that I get to block out so I can best focus on whatever it is that's been on my mind to write about. It's sort of unfortunate that in order to fully focus, I need to be in a place where I can ignore the background noises, smells and sights.

In any case, sleeping in today was great. Kristen and I danced hard last night as we went to see my favorite 80's cover band, The Reflex, live at a local bar. I was exhausted when I got home and slept until noon. Amazing. I signed up for my radio show next semester- Mondays, 12-2pm. I really enjoy the Americana time slot too much to give it up...but I do like the idea of having it earlier in the week. Should be good. I'll also be on air this coming Tuesday from 6-9pm. It's three hours long because it's finals week, and it is also a Freeform show, meaning I will play anything and everything I want. You should listen! WXJM.ORG (stream from the website)...

I spent the majority of my day wandering Staunton alone. I found some fantastic vintage cloth & antique stores. At one, Jollyroger Haggle, I got a gift for my little brother as well as an old Mason jar. The blue tint to the glass is amazing. I have a weird fascination with the Mason Jar, or Ball Jar...Atlas jar...I like the Mason ones specifically. And particularly the old, blue hued ones. The way they catch sunlight really enchants me, which sounds incredibly silly- I know- but it's the truth. I want to fill it with buttons and change and marbles and put it on my front window pane.

The woman behind the counter was an interesting lady. Her hair was long and streaked with greys and whites. Her accent was odd and not typical of the valley. She spoke a lot to herself- outloud, and with great conviction. I imagine spending most of your days surrounded by such an immense amount of old, dust collecting things. There's so much in this building...3 floors of rusting hammers and trivets, cookie jars, depression glass, empty coca-cola bottles from the beginning of time, dull silver plates and chipped china, old books- browned and weather-worn, ceramic figurines, prints of sub-par paintings, photographs of people who have been long forgotten...it must be a heavy weight to carry around with you when you work in a place like that. It's like working with the undead...trying to breathe new life into everything that line the shelves, hang on the walls and dangle from the ceilings.

It's interesting how inspired I felt walking through the place. I snapped a few polaroids, and imagined all the ways I could decorate a house or apartment someday. I also thought of all the things I could create from all the junk, and how all the different glass ware and kitchen stuff could be so fun to use in my dream bakery someday. Serving cupcakes and muffins on pink depression glass plates. It's a thought that makes me think about why I am getting this degree, haha.
In fact, I think that a lot.

But anyway. I drove home taking route 42, which snakes through the western part of the valley. You can see lots of great views of the mountains, which is reason enough to drive that way. Winter's been making it's ascention into the valley and it was snow flurrying today. The Alleghanies, which are usually different shades of blue, were instead today shades of gray. It was beautiful. I had this vision of an amazing work of art I wanted to create, and I may try and do it next week.

In the meantime, dinner and then helping out with a show at the station.
-Leigh