Slowing Down...and meeting Dealer Dan

Today was one of those summer days when the sun is shining brightly but there is a sweet and cool breeze in the air...in other words, a perfectly blissful kind of day for slowing down and enjoying all the simple pleasures of summer. The sky is that hue of blue you lose yourself in...and there are cottony, billowy cloudscapes blowing by like a silent movie of shapes and forms to contemplate. The wind chime on my front porch is tinkling non-stop reminding me that unseen energies, like the wind, are always hard at work.

I found myself actually having fun folding clothes, chopping up colorful fresh vegetables, opening all the windows in the house and listening to the curtains flapping, watering flowers, and just generally puttering about my sun-drenched house and porch. I love these kinds of days...when my energy can catch up yet I can still enjoy the activities I am immersed in. Painting benches, framing art work, planning projects, writing and drawing, tidying up, decluttering...all of these simple activities calm and restore me.

That all being said today was ripe for an adventure of sorts. My energy and mood was calm yet open...

My 11 year old son and I hit some country roads up near the Wisconsin border. Earlier in the week I had seen a small "shop" literally on the side of the road about the size of a backyard shed with a big sign on it that said "Shield's Grocery." I thought I'd get Keaton excited about visiting "the world's smallest grocery store." "Really?" he said. "It really is?" he asked. "Well, we shall see...I think so..." was my reply.

There was a small cardboard sign perched on a chair propping the door open and it said "Fresh Asparagus. Sweet Corn Soon." Promising my son an ice cream from a big old fashioned freezer or maybe a root beer in a bottle from an old soda machine, he seemed game.

I don't know why but we were both excited as we walked up to "the world's smallest grocery store" - what would await us inside? We imagined all sorts of goodies...penny candy, farm fresh veggies, homemade sauces and salsas, old ceiling fans swishing the air about, some canned goods, and maybe even some old fashioned toys for some summer fun. Ok, so I'm quite the nostalgic type.

Imagine our surprise when we walked into, yes, it was actually a shed...full of tools, tackle boxes, saw horses, hunting knives, and other paraphernalia of this sort. Shelves and shelves of it. There was barely any room to walk. Fishing poles, life jackets, oars, and cigarette memorabilia everywhere. But...before you think that we embarassed ourselves walking into someone's shed on the side of the road, let me tell you that there was a glass-topped counter at the back and a friendly, smiling broadly, gentle old man behind it. Alas, it was indeed a "store" -- whew! -- but not for groceries...

My son was thrilled...everything in the shed was actually for sale. Upon closer inspection we found small paintings of eagles and pheasants, antique coins, glass milk bottles, fishing lures, keys and locks, election buttons from decades and decades ago, police badges, silver spoons, and more...

The old man behind the counter spoke...he was loud, louder than any adult I've heard in a long, long time. But he was chipper, gregarious...really glad we stopped in. He informed us right away he was sold out of asparagus and no sweet corn would be in sight for awhile. However, he had three different varieties of locally produced honey. "That there jar is from Belli's Farm right up there on 21..." and "Oh, that one's from the farm you just passed on the main highway...they got all kinds of things going on there..." and "And that one is from Hollister's -- they just started producing and they've been in the local paper..." My son and I knowingly looked at each other. There wasn't much else we'd be buying from the shed (or so we thought at that moment in time)so we put one jar of honey from each of the three farms onto the counter.

Ok, so we had driven 30 minutes to this little place...we had to make our drive worthwhile. We had to be polite and take a good look-see. We found a cigar box full of keys and locks much to my son's delight. He collects both keys and locks. So we dumped the contents out on the counter and started sorting "cool" keys and "not so cool" keys. Same for the locks. At 25 cents a piece for the keys and $1.oo each for the locks, well, why not? Twelve keys made it to the "keep" pile along with 3 locks.

Next up, the coins, political buttons, and tons of other assortments. Meanwhile, the old man continued to converse with us. "WHATCHA DOIN' FOR THE SUMMER?" he asked loudly of my son. "OH, YOU PLAY BASEBALL? WHERE? WHAT POSITION?" and "WHERE DO YOU GO TO SCHOOL?" and "HOW OLD ARE YOU?" and "WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH ALL THESE KEYS?" (Loud.)

Then he said to my son "Ya see this here key? When were you born? Well, this key was made nearly 100 years before you then." So we bought that one, too.

Meanwhile, I laid the small paintings of the eagle and the pheasant on the counter. Cute and kitcshy - definitely have to snatch those up, each was only about 4x4 inches large. My son picked up a police star, the kind you see pinned to the chest of a man in uniform...and asked the old man "Is this real?" and the old man said "WELL, YEAH, IT'S REAL!!!!" (Real loud.) Honestly, all three of us laughed a good one at that.

It came time to settle up and make our payment for our purchases. Thirty bucks later (!!!!) it was time to hit the road and find an ice cream and a cool, iced root beer in a bottle. Asparagus would have to wait for another "adventure" of sorts to the local supermarket. While I wrote out my check, the old man gave me his card and encouraged us to "stop by for a chat again real soon sometime." His name was "Dealer Dan" and the name of the "shed" was not Shield's Grocery but instead "Wads-It-Worth ~ Dealer Dan's Antiques, Collectibles & Doo-Dads" -- What a great name! We had most certainly wandered into a "doo-dad" shop. My son spent the rest of the day saying the word "doo-dad" over and over again. You know, at first glance it appeared to be a small farm stand along the side of the road...then it was "just someone's shed full of stuff" as my son had whispered to me, and then it transformed into Dealer Dan's Doodad Shop...

It was not too long ago that I felt I had left most of my dreams along the side of the road, like the little white shed. Dreams I thought I could never retrieve and rebirth...but the experience today with Dealer Dan, he with his huge smile and a glint in his eyes, a spirit in his heart and a loving kindness towards whoever appeared at his door, showed me that what is lost can be found...it's there, waiting for you...on the side of the road. And in all the joy one can find in summer's simple pleasures and an open heart ready for an adventure...

"...the unexpected is a gift...be open to receiving..."