A Living Magazine - Day 236 - Homecoming - Charlotte: Not My Business

It was pretty much like "Groundhog Day" (funny too, because it was right after Groundhog Day--February 2). Woke up late. That was it. I needed to move the site back further and would on this night.

I made my usual commute down Hawthorne...

On the sidewalk. A paradoxical demand. Ha!

I took a left onto Central and walked to get a coffee at Harris Teeter's Starbucks; thereby ending my boycott of them after only about a day and a half...

The random art of nature upon what was once human.

I didn't have much more planned for today beside getting a post up. So I bought a coffee and settled in the upstairs dining area to work for my allotted two hours. When I was almost done I decided to blow that joint and head down to Central Coffee. But I wanted to give you a taste of this part of town--the businesses, pubs and restaurants...

Haven't been in.

Now I understand what the painting on the building in Gastonia had been advertising, I think?

But I Googled it and saw no pub under that name in Gastonia, only here in Charlotte. Weird.

Anyway, I would go in for a beer the next afternoon.

A place that's just right for photographing.

Tiniest place in town but it seems to have its regulars. Live bands too!

This was priceless. Garnishing a chain link fence.

Never went in. A bit over my tax bracket.

I have counted no less than six apartment projects going up. I shot the other side of the following building a couple days ago (all the french doors with no porches yet). Charlotte must prepare for a few thousand more drivers once these are done. Eeek!

Notice the closed sidewalk. Always have to remember where they close them.

The one time that jaywalking is permitted, but still not well-tolerated.

                                                                                                     

Walking into Central Coffee I saw the barista that I liked from the other night. She was very friendly. I bought a hot chocolate and settled in to finish the post.

I often think about how I would live if I were to be here in Charlotte for a long time. I'd be tempted to open a business. After seeing the businesses above and others, I think it would be difficult. They certainly have their busy time and dead times--a lot of dead times. Sometimes these places are open but look closed. I just don't know how you pay an employee and keep your cafe (for example) open with only ten customers a day?

I'm also here off season. It will be nice someday to see this part of the country in the summer. I know from being in the woods that it must be very lush. All of my judgmental statements about car culture might simply be seasonal?

I come from a part of the country - New England - that is relatively small--distances are short. All of New England is roughly the size of South and North Carolina combined. Except for northern Maine, New England is very dense too. Having a business in southern Maine (for example) means you could easily have customers from the other four states in the region. Here in western North Carolina you get out-of staters, but mostly it is in-state business. Ultimately, all I could do was fantasize about the yearly cycle of commerce in North Carolina, since none of these were my businesses, and I was only a February visitor.

I published my post and headed out.  I found all of this interesting to think about as I made my way back to the sleep spot. When I got there and across the road,  I remembered to go farther into the woods.  I explored until I found a place about fifty feet from where I had been camping. No traffic could see it. It was a bit closer to the houses in the neighborhood beyond the woods, but the thickness of the brush between them and my tent made being discovered improbable. Excavating was easier than I thought. I inadvertently kicked two fallen logs in such a way that they made a kind of walkway to where the camp was. That would help me find it the next day. 

The temperature was not as low as I thought it would be, so I hung out for a little while outside the tent, before climbing in and crashing. Now when I slept in at least I wouldn't be seen from the road. I'd noticed on the last night that I had a Wi-Fi signal at the site. So I sent a message and read a bit of Facebook before turning in. I would have participated in conversations more, but it was already later than I should have been up. I fell asleep immediately upon lying down...

Hardly worth a new yellow arrow.

See the tree I bent over to get it out of the way?

When it is dark there, the curve of the tree and the curve of the

tent top look like part of the same plant.

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