Walking In Winter

Some of you may remember way back in September, when I did that weathervane restoration right before getting laid off and going out west. Well, since I took off out of town so quickly, I never got to see the weathervane actually installed. Until today, that is! So, we decided to go this morning. It was actually snowing here at the house when we left but didn't think it would last long and it didn't. It did, however, stay very cold. So, anyway, we went downtown to where the church was that I did the weathervane for and walked around some. We walked up to the church to get some photos and you know what? The vane was actually turning too! It works! That made me happy that my repair on the bearings in that thing had worked. At least for now!

Walking back from the church we saw this sweet message inscribed in a pretty badly done concrete sidewalk patch.

The area that this church is in has long been a rather funky, hip part of Birmingham. A gathering place for artists and musicians but also the homeless and sometimes kinda shady elements. Back when I was in college it was really THE place to go. Lots of restaurants and bars, pool halls and such. Or, at least, it used to be. I was sad to see that many of the restaurants and such had closed down and in their places quite a few vacant buildings. There was the occasional sleeping pad of a resident homeless person in the doorway. Trendier areas have sprung up in some of the Birmingham suburbs.

I was happy to see that this old place was still there. This is the entrance to Charlemagne Records. And yes, they do still sell records as in LP's. You kinda have to know where it is because if you are not looking you'll just walk right by it. When I was in college, and we are not going to say how long ago that was, CD's had not yet come out. They did before I graduated I think but for the most part people still bought cassette tapes and LP's. Charlemagne's has all the old, obscure recordings of groups nobody has even heard of and current stuff too. It's just a neat place to go. If nothing else to look at all the funky stuff on the walls. It made me think of a time so long ago though. A much more carefree and wilder youth. A time when I didn't have to worry about home and property insurance and such things. Hell, a couple of my guy buddies from back then that I used to go to bars with are dead now. Been dead a number of years. I was also much less sure of myself back then. Ah well...



The pic above is of the fountain that is located in the center of the 5 Points area. Of course, because of the Goat guy and other various elements a lot of the Bible thumpers around town have said for years that it is a demonic alter and such crap. And it's located right in front of a church. You don't hear much about that these days though, so I think most people have gotten over it. It's just a whimsical fun thing. It was designed by Frank Fleming, who lives not far from here and is a native Alabamian. He just likes to sculpt animals and vegetables. He does some really cool bronze okra pods.

So, we had a fun day and on the way home we stopped and I used my very last 'safety bucks' from work to buy the flooring for the pantry!! Woohooo!! It had to be ordered but should be here in a few days. I'll be showing you all pics of that soon. The local Lowe's was also having something of a clearance sale and I got several nice shelf brackets for half off and a couple of nice woven storage boxes, also half off, that will be great to store a few things in the pantry in. I don't know if all Lowe's are having this sale but it might be worth checking out if you are in need of similar things. Some items they were just marking down $.50 or some crap but a lot of it was 50% or more off.

Well, I didn't mean for this post to be so long but I guess I rambled. Anyway, see ya'll soon.