A Stroll Through the Past

I've become a walker. I don't really know how or when this happened, but I no longer argue with myself about getting out and exercising. Maybe those endorphins that are supposed to kick in when you exercise have finally started kicking in. It makes me feel better and lo and behold, I have the ability to walk three miles, in one session. I honestly don't think I've walked that much before. Ever. I kinda feel like Wonder Woman.
I've started walking down Main Street in my little town. I love looking at all the items in the various windows. I love adding one more block to my journey each time I walk. Eventually I hope to become a jogger. Baby steps.....
Today, as I was nearing the end of my walk, I came upon the Yesterday and Today Antique Market. Really, it's lots of old junk from various people and takes up something like four storefronts. I decided on a whim to go in and look around. I'm so glad I did.
I began to find things from my past that I hadn't seen in YEARS! I picked up several Camp Snoopy drinking glasses that were a main staple in the Menahga house cabinets. It made me smile. I vowed that if I came across a SHAZAM! drinking glass, I would buy it on the spot. No such luck.
I found a german beer stein, and it made me tear up. My grandparents had german beer steins in their china cabinet. Let me preface this by saying these were never used....they were only for decoration. Because of course, let's face it....if anyone in our family were caught drinking a sip of beer when Jesus came back then we would surely and most definitely miss the rapture. ;0) I'm not sure where my grandmother got the beer steins, but I will never forget what they look like. And today, I saw one.
An old CB radio reminded me of the long road trip from Chicago to Myrtle Beach that we took in a yellow car. My Dad and his brothers thought it would be fun to communicate via CBs while traveling. All I remember hearing are some unknown words come over the air from a scruffy sounding trucker, which preceeded my mother yelling at my father to turn the channel.
I began to realize that all these items that I recognized from my childhood, probably belonged to someone much like my grandmother. I saw her in every flea market cubby today.....I was reminded of her blue house salt and pepper shakers, although the ones I saw were brown. I recalled that delicious cheese spread could be found in small brown or blue crocks....the crocks were there minus the cheese.
And the coffee mugs were numerous. I'm actually going back there tomorrow to buy one. I think I've become a woman who likes interesting coffee mugs....mugs that make me say "whaaaaaat??" out loud in a store. I have a vision of every member of my family having their own, favorite coffee mug when they come to my house. And they're all different, and the weird mugs make their drinkers smile.
I had so much fun weaving in and out of the aisles. It reminded me of my childhood, my grandparents house, the lake house in Menahga, aunts and uncles, long road trips.....and family. It was like spending an afternoon with my extended family.
Thumbs up for spontaneous junk store outings.