The Junk Shop

    I spent most of the day today visiting the few second-hand and antique stores Bakersfield is blessed to have with my mama.  Most people who know me know that I'm always happy to browse through stores for extended periods of time... even when I have no intentions of buying anything, and especially antique stores I love with all of my heart.  I love how there's no rhyme or reason to what these stores carry, the only thing all of their items have in common is that they are all "old".  Today for example I saw a Jimi Hendrix Experience record next to an old cracked porcelain doll and couldn't help but to smile.
    My favorite area of these stores is always the weird little box they have of old photographs.  I always imagine the mind of the probably deceased person the picture portrays and think about how they would react to knowing their personal photographs were being sold next to Harley Davidson brand motorcycle boots at a Bakersfield antique mall.  I wander through the crazy disorganized little sections of the shops and pick out presents I never end up buying for just about everyone I know... little scary cat figurines for Baker, history books from like 1910 for Mr. Holliday, colored glass bottles for my mom, old records for Ben, and Elvis memorabilia for my neighbor Ruth, the list goes on and on.  I love that these items all have pasts I don't know about, and I love imagining them being way more adventurous than they probably are... that's the fun of it!
The picture is just one such store in the Mid-west... they probably have the best antique stores.