Throw-back Friday

 Today felt very much like old times. The old times in the Before Times, not the old times of 2020 or 2021.

I left early this morning to drive the 3+ hours down to Longview, to meet Laura at Stitches N Stuff, and then get lunch at Barron's. We used to do this semi-regularly (once or twice a year) before 2018.(And I did it by myself, even longer ago, before Laura and I met). 

I remembered the way. The drive is familiar; the drive to Mineola (about 2/3 of the way) even more so, because that's how I get to the train station. 

I got there first; for a bit Laura was stuck behind a traffic accident (not a bad one, fortunately) so I sat down and waited and added a few stitches to my current sock project that I had taken along

Things have changed a little. The prices are higher. One of the two sisters who founded the place has passed away; the remaining sister is keeping it open but fewer days a week (just Tuesday through Friday, I think). But it FELT the same - many of the same brands, the same arrangement of stuff, the same pleasant greeting when you walk in. 

After Laura arrived, we decided to run and get lunch before shopping - we went to Barron's, the usual place. This time we ate at a table on the terrace (outdoors), which seems safer and of course in Texas the weather was fine for it most of the year.  And then we did a little shopping at Barron's.

I started some Christmas shopping:

 

A block-stacking game (for my brother). The "moon ball" will go with my niece's gift (probably either a craft kit or nice Japanese office supplies from JetPens), and a pair of monogrammed socks to go with my mom's present. I didn't find anything I liked for my sister-in-law, I might try the gourmet shop here in town.

I also, uh, bought something for myself.

They have a lot of the Jellycat animals there, including the somewhat-nonsensical lizards and amphibians. This one is supposed to be a crested newt, even if the crest is fur, which amphibians don't have.

But when I picked him up I was like "LOOK AT THE MULLET BABY" and decided I wanted him.

Yes, he looks like he has a mullet.

His name is Wayne. Like Wayne Gretzky. Even though Laura thought he looked more like 1970s David Bowie, "Wayne" was the first thing to come into my head, so "Wayne" he is. 

Also, now, my Axolotl (Alice) I bought last year has a potential "Plus-one" if she ever gets invited somewhere....

From there, we went back to the yarn shop. I did get some yarn despite REALLY not needing more:

Top row is a new scrubbie for my kitchen (They're a pain to make so I'd rather buy ones someone else made), yarn for color-gradients socks,purple yarn for a shawl, and then the pink and grey is soft and is for a cowl for me. 

And then on to other stores, for other things. I got some books, one at Michael's

Do I need another geeky knitting book? No. But did I want it? Yes. 

And then at Books-a-Million they had a LOT of these inexpensive hardback compilation volumes:

I also probably didn't need these, but - a glance at the tables of contents showed some stories I don't have in any other compilation. And there is something very nice about being tucked up in bed on a winter night with a nice hardback book - and short stories are nice to read when you're tired, less of a commitment, and you're more likely to get through one in one setting. 

I find I can read mysteries again - I couldn't, for a while, because the idea of even the fairly offstage human suffering (and also, even though in the "Golden Age" stories I prefer, it's often someone who deserves it in some way) was too much. But I'm enjoying the Sherlock Holmes stories, so I think it's time to go back to my old favorite genre more. (Frankly, it's a relief: I was afraid I'd lost my enjoyment of a good mystery forever).

It was a good day. In a lot of ways it felt like the before-times: a feeling I thought was gone forever. I was afraid the shops in Longview that I enjoyed would have been gone forever, as was my ability to go there and shop. But maybe not?