Let me tell you about Trader Joe's in CH. First of all, you walk in and the very first thing is you are surrounded by flowers...wonderfully beautiful flowers of all colors and shapes and smells. Ahhh..I love that! The next thing that encompasses you is the music...way cool old time rock and roll! Ohhhh yeah! The first ten minutes there, all I really wanted was to find someone who, like me, just wanted to dance. I would have danced with anyone...and the sad thing is...no one asked...and even sadder...I didn't ask anyone! How fun it would have been if I had the courage to find someone who looked like they were enjoying the music as much as I and just say...hey...do ya wanta dance? Just imagine dancing through the aisles as you shopped for exotic Indian sauces and delicious Trader Joe's soups, reasonably priced spices and chocolate covered cranberries. Next you shag on over to the wine section, but first a stop by the freebie station for a taste of the heavenly date bread and a tiny little piece of apple cured bacon..or something like that....whatever it was...it was super yum...I have to admit I went back for seconds when the demo lady was away from her table.
So, why didn't I ask someone to dance...or just tell the lady I really needed another taste of her delicious freebies which, because they weren't part of my regular diet, I couldn't purchase them, but they was so good I just had to have seconds. If I had done that, she may have offered me thirds! See what we do to ourselves when we're too timid to ask for what we really want! WTF??? I'm 67...shouldn't I know this by now?
The book shop...Flyleaf Books...isn't that a great name?...was amazing. They set it up in many different sections which made it really easy to find books you like without going through a bunch that you really don't like. Best of all were the numerous shelves of second hand books. Nirvana! I found two treasures...one about stories from the South, and the other ... workouts for the brain! I'll be sure and let you know how these workouts actually work. Essentially, I loved the energy of this Indy book shop...very much like our own Pomegranate Books, just a little bigger. I'm so glad there are a few Indies still alive and reasonably well. We all need to remember to give them as much business as we can because to lose them would be like losing a piece of our very own soul.
OK...the Hampton Inn. Yeah, it's not a funky motel, but it's a sweet little motel tucked in a quiet little section of Chapel Hill and surrounded by trees..many of which have the cutest little bird houses hanging from the branches. That's kinda funky, don't you think? And...one night I went out to get some ice and right there in a tree beside our room was this huge raccoon. This is the first raccoon I've ever seen live and in person. I startled him just about as much as he startled me and he went scampering back up the tree. I told Dave about it and he says...are you sure it wasn't a possum? Men! Even though I'm not exactly Mz. Nature Girl, I do know the difference between a raccoon and a possum. Possum's don't have striped tails, for crying out loud!
In the afternoon, and sometimes at night, they have chocolate chip cookies in the lobby and I love going in and picking up a couple cookies and getting some hot water and a tea bag...green tea, of course... and coming back to the room, fluffing up the pillows and laying back to watch Oprah while I sip my tea and munch on the cookies. Heaven!
I can't quite explain, even to myself, why I have this passion for motel rooms and that's probably a good thing. Sometimes we understand things in life all too well and sometimes, too much knowledge can be a real spoiler, you know?
Chapel Hill is full of fun and funk, beauty and grace, history and cutting edge...and nice, friendly people. There's an energy to it that makes me want to stand up a littler straighter and pay a little more attention to what's going on around me. If only, it had an ocean within hearing distance. Meanwhile, I'm sure we'll be back fairly soon. It is basketball season, you know!
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