Friends in the Woods

I forgot to tell you why I was in Port Townsend, Washington. Oh, that. Yes, a town on the northern tip of the Puget Sound.  Well I want to look all important like I know what I am doing in front of the Buckeye Main Street Coalition meetings. I sit at the end of the table as the Design Chair with David Calvert who owns Calverts Shell Service Station in Buckeye, AZ. This David races a lawn mower like nobody's business.  I like the end of the table so nobody can cough on me.  I usually fill up the end of the table with piles of my crap that I carry around.   
I knew I needed an edge with these Buckeye people or I would be kicked out of town like a busted up Lincoln Town Car in a demolition derby. I know a thing or two about putting together a great team.  I had scheduled a meeting way before flying out to speak with the insiders of the Port Townsend Planning and Zoning Department.  I mean why do we steal ideas from Florence, Arizona when we can be different and have friends in the woods.  In the woods along a sea port where you can buy a sharply cornered turn table with sepia hued Plexiglas or a felted hat with five felted mushrooms on either side.  Everything is not always for sale in this town.  Some things are untouchable like the 1960's motorcycle ridden by Peter Fonda, well Peter Fonda when he was 10. It was a really small red, white and blue star spangled bike covered in 12 inches of dust.  It really was.

Where I want to start is after I had the soup. You know the soup. I stood on the cold cement sidewalk looking like a grunger.  I had the full-on grunge too.  I found these sick skirts made from Jenny Jo Clothing.  I bought 3 skirts made from regenerated knits.  I layered it over leggings, crazy paisley socks and purple www.ahnu.com/Boots  boots that I wore for the entire 10 days. And no I didn't sleep in them.  Water Street, the Historic Main Street, is located on the "flat".  I know this from reading Jefferson County Historical Society books.   The buildings woke up knowing I was there for business.  Port Townsend is a menagerie of old odd things kept safe behind large shop windows like book bindings of an old dusty library that smells like sea foam.  The Victorian buildings are like favorite classic books all slammed together. Here the books are buildings and each spine is a different color steeped with gorgeous dentals, crenellation and friezes.  I mostly focused on building paint colors, store front treatment and well you know good stuff to buy.  

I liked how the Golden Rod yellow was effectively translated from a Victorian to a modern building along Water Street in Port Townsend.  This is what I want to see more of in Buckeye.  

  I get a bang out of the huge ass text on the side of the building.  See the water on the right.  There are people inside building sail boats right now at this minute. There is also a navy sweater in the Gift store that I didn't buy and am kind of glad because I would have looked like Popeye in it.

The The Writers' Workshoppe was a treat to find. If you step foot inside you just may want to go write or read.  It happened on a dark and stormy night...