Small town blues

Sorry I have missed the past couple days, folks. Thursday I was simply being lazy, spending my time at the gym and around the house. It was a great day for the out of shape Chaz to get his groove on working out, and it was a good one. My upper body is still sore today.

I was out of town yesterday with The Wife, exploring the great unknown that is Centralia, WA.
Centralia, WA is a small town in the middle of Washington off I-5, not too far away from Olympia. It is a typical small rural town in the middle of nowhere. It does, however, have a quaint little downtown which looks straight out of the past, filled with old diners, antique shops, mom & pop furniture shops, the town hardware store, and more. The Amtrak stops a block over from the main strip of the downtown, letting people from other areas (Portland, Seattle, etc) stop at Centralia to wander around for a while.

We went to Centralia to chill for the day. The Wife had a short class to teach, and we were going to check out the shops and have lunch when she was done. While waiting, I went to the Centralia Perk Coffee Shop to relax. Centralia Perk is an old cafe/antique shop full of chandeliers, crazy old furniture, and more knick knacks than should be allowed. They also have tables strewn throughout the controlled chaos where you can sit with your coffee and chill. I got a mocha and sat to read my GQ while waiting for my wife to get done. Townsfolks came and went in the hour I sat there, all greeting the barrista warmly by name, inquiring about kids, and sharing in the most recent Centralia gossip.

I have always wondered what it would be like to rock a small town like that. Long ago, a part of me wanted to live in a small town-- I had this big fish small pond daydream. That dream vanished long ago when I was in a car wreck in Ashland, NE and had to ride 45 minutes in an ambulance to the nearest hospital. The conveniences in a large town really do come in handy.

Even so, being in a small town in a small cafe, it is amazing to hear what they have to talk about, what is important to them. They talked about family-- babies and shit-- and meaningful stuff about friends and their own lives. Just listening makes you feel like a part of it, even if you are an outsider looking in.

I finished my coffee and headed over to meet the wife at McMenamin's Olympic Club, a bar/pool hall/hotel/movie theatre that has been restored and seems to be the center of downtown. We had a couple beers with our nice, slow lunch, and headed out into the land of the antiques. I am not a huge antiquing fan, but when we go, I enjoy it. I like going to Goodwills and thrift stores to try to find diamonds in the rough, but antique stores are different. They already know what has value and what doesn't, so the prices are way higher than one might expect. We went to several antique shops looking for modern classic pieces for our house, as well as for a specific gift item The Wife was searching for. If you are into antiques, Centralia is your place.

We called it a day around 4:30 to head back home. It would have been great to stay the night at the Olympic Club, catch a movie in their restored theatre, and relax. Maybe next time.

With that, I bid y'all farewell until tomorrow, when I give you the long awaited, special Sunday edition of Down List, brought to you by the good folks at Weiners, Cheese Balls and Horse Puckey.