On 21st, a block north of Powell, there is the Co-op. This is the store that Julie told me has coconut oil for sale, which is good for my thyroid. I cruised the store and was thrilled to see that they have in stock my favorite teas that seem hard to find (Roasted Dandelion and PMS tea from Traditional Medicinals) AND they even have bulk medicinal herbs so that I can make my own tea combinations. The prices are lots lower than New Seasons. The produce looked good, and they had organic dairy products. They also have free yoga classes 4 times a week! I may join. I want to check out the yoga room. I liked the store and I will be going back.
After visiting the co-op I turned toward home, but a big road got in my way, and some not-so-young men were playing on their skateboards up against a divider. They were just like a couple of whitewater kayakers, taking turns trying to do a stunt. It was a simple stunt, and they were easily amused. I told them "if this was a river you would be in boats". They were playing. It is good to see adults playing. I miss the playfulness of kayaking. I was playing with my walk and so I followed the road as it turned me around and ended up on the same block, walking past the Co-op again. I had taken a piece of literature and it was the wrong one, so I traded it out for the one with membership info.
Then I proceded down 21st. A block or so farther I encountered Clinton Street, and all that is going on there. There was a restaurant with Spice in the name, of indeterminate national flavor but half filled with now middle-aged yuppies. Across the street was a little pub with a bluegrass band playing just inside the door. I stepped inside and stood right in front of the tip bucket for the middle half of an old traditional song. The band was five pieces: string bass, banjo, guitar, harmonica, and washboard. The washboard girl could really sing. They could all sing. I laughed and danced in place. There were a couple of couples up there going crazy dancing, and one young man who got really excited and made quite the spectacle dancing like an oversized chicken.
I learned later that the band plays there every Tuesday night. I will be back. Danceable fun music that starts before dark and costs nothing but drinks and tips. The place was packed, but not too packed to fit me in. The band noticed me and I nodded to each of them as they checked me out. I was standing right beside them. I left right before the end of the song, just slipped out the door and onto the dimming sidewalk.
Just one door down there was the sushi restaurant of my dreams. The neon on the sign was half out but I think the name was Raja or something like that. It was a little old house, like one of the Victorians in Knoxville, with a porch on the front. I climbed the steps and squatted down to investigate the price list. The prices were $2-4 lower than the prices of the place on Gladstone. I asked the woman on the porch if the sushi was good. She said it was terrific and it's two rolls for the price of one on Tuesdays. AND the bluegrass band plays every Tuesday...she told me the band name but it escapes me now.
Anyway, Sara--the woman on the porch at the sushi place--is new in town, just moved here with her husband and three dogs and two cats. She's starting welding school tomorrow, is 28 years of age, and just today quit her job renting out porn videos. She lasted two months at that job, and just decided not to go in today. She didn't like the images and attitudes that she was taking in, just from shelving and renting porn. She said it wasn't the people that bothered her, they were generally decent. It was the pictures and writing on the video cases that got in her head and planted a seed that she did not want to grow.
She asked me if I'm intuitive, I guess because I brought her a coop flier even though I didn't know her yet, or because I walked onto the porch and asked her if the sushi was good. I said I guess I am intuitive. When I allow myself to connect into the flow. She told a story about connecting into the flow by way of a predictive dream. She dreamt of her new housemate the night before he called. She knew he was going to be dorky. She was wearing a black straw hat. Funny how fast you can sometimes make a friend. It was good to meet Sara, and if you want to join us for sushi, I think I might become a Tuesday night regular. Eight pm, two for one, bring your sweater so you can sit on the porch.