Pickin’ and Musing: June
I spent a large part of this month on the road with my husband Eli. We kept mostly to the Mississippi River valley and hit up mom and pop thrift stores, garage sales and different Goodwill bins. We hadn’t even made it that far when we spotted a little antique store in Miesville. I don’t know how I’d never noticed it.
We quickly met Carol and learned that she is closing at the end of the Summer. One corner of the shop was almost floor to ceiling with rugs and linens. They were mostly rag rugs, some from the Amana colonies - which Carol was quick to mention and remind me. I could’ve spent the entire day with her. She had such beautiful taste and spirit. I borrowed my niece’s Camp Snap camera for the trip and Carol was kind enough to let me take her photo. I promised her we would return for more goodies in August with an empty car and full wallets.
A few of the rugs from Carol.
This top rug was my favorite of the bunch.
We took a very meandering course down the river. I was quickly surprised by the lack of regionality in the antiques. It made me wonder if that was due to the river traffic and trade in the “olden days”. We encountered friendly people everywhere we stopped. In McGregor, IA we met Marty.
This is Marty. He had lots of jokes to tell.
As we were leaving he called after us to “hold hands as you cross the street!”.
I love small towns.
They feel like home to me. So many hold onto their history with both hands, offering us a time capsule to enjoy.
Parting Thought:
A few times on road I was reminded of the Barrett Pavilion. Barrett is a teeny tiny town in between Alexandria and Fergus Falls, MN. My maternal grandparents helped decorate/build the pavilion. My grandma, Kay still remembers hanging the strips of tinsel on the ceiling. I have memories here of family reunions, community church services and even a night with a rockin’ local cover band.
The afternoon I took this photo, we were setting up for an evening of bluegrass, performed by my parent’s band, FlattGrass Revival.
