Reunited in Lexington
(The Millinery de Rousselot sign was painted during the filming of the movie "Sommersby," in 1993, starring Jodie Foster and Richard Gere.)
My Saturday in Lexington, began with the smell of bacon followed by another steaming hot mug of the house blend coffee. Eventually I'd scramble up a few eggs and make myself some skillet toast to go with the tasty bacon.
While my hostess worked, my host busied himself with usual Saturday morning tasks and I headed out to reunite with Lexington. While my host humored me on my last visit and accompanied me to Duke's Lexington Antique Center, this time he let me go off to explore it on my own. The Lexington visitor's website says that Dukes houses 20,000 square feet of antiques and 200+ dealers. I can confirm, that it is the best antique store I've visited on my travels this summer! I found several milk glass treasures along with a couple National Geographic magazines with Coca-Cola ads on the back (four for a dollar!), and a new old Pyrex butter dish with yellow flowers and butterflies on it. They even packed up everything in a box for me to get it back home to Wisconsin safely.
I arrived back at home base in time to catch a ride into town with my host to hop on a Lexington Carriage Company horse-drawn carriage tour of Lexington. It was a beautiful day for a jaunt through town and we got a taste of all the highlights including the Stonewall Jackson House, the University Chapel & Museum and the Lee House, both at Washington & Lee University. Plus they provided lots of interesting tidbits including details about the hills being lowered over the years and the famous Lexington bricks. I had taken this tour when I was in town for my host's wedding in 2015, but still enjoyed the outing and the locals found it enjoyable as well.
By late afternoon, my host and I were ready to head out to Salerno Wood Fired Pizza & Tap House to meet up with a few of the Lexington Players I had met online when we produced a couple of virtual theatre events during the pandemic. It was great to finally meet these people in person! I enjoyed a Patron with club soda and lime (it's been awhile!) and a gluten-free buffalo chicken pizza while we chatted. One of the ladies even mentioned to me she thought it was great what I was doing with this Soul Journey.
After the party broke up, my host and I made our way to Blue Ridge Taps, also downtown, where we found a dynamic duo, North by Burke, playing live music. After confirming they only keep cider on their cider tap, I ordered one and my host probably enjoyed and IPA. We enjoyed the tunes, but it made it difficult to have a conversation, so after one beverage, we packed it in to head for home.
We ended our evening catching a few episodes of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. The most memorable for me was an episode reuniting Michael Richards, who had played Kramer in the sitcom Seinfeld, with Jerry Seinfeld. First of all, Jerry picks him up in a 1962 VW split window double cab bus in dove blue, primer gray, and rust. The interior is vinyl and duct tape. That's funny right there.
Once they arrive at the coffee shop, they begin talking chess and Michael Richards launches into a story about playing chess with a man on the street who was able to beat him two different times in under two minutes. When Jerry asks "What was it that he was able to do so well, that he could win so fast?" Michael Richards replies, "He saw the moves before they took place...this is where it gets a bit metaphysical." He goes on to talk about how perhaps he was in a different reality than the rest of us are adjusted to. This jolts me out of TV watching mode and I begin mentally taking notes about what lesson is heading my way.
Then they move on to talk about when Michael Richards auditioned for Seinfeld. He said they brought him in three different times, but Richards knew right away he was going to get the part the first time he read with Jerry. He said, "they can't pass that up." Jerry replies, "You just feel the hand of the universe going, no you two are going to be together."
From there Jerry says that entertaining is not about the performer, it's about the audience and making sure they are enjoying it. At this point Richards brings up the incident in the comedy club in 2006 where he says he should have been working selflessly, but instead he lashed out in anger after taking comments made by an audience member too personally. He follows up that the incident really broke him down and inside it still "kicks him up a bit." Jerry lets him know that choice is up to Richards to say "You know, I've been carrying this bag long enough. I'm going to put it down."
And there you have it. For some reason every time I tell people this story, I can't help myself from crying. I'm tearing up just writing it here today. I guess this pulls at me so strongly because everyone has a bag, something you continue to drag with you that you feel defines you, but continues to weigh heavier and heavier on you. Every day you wake up to create the you facing the world and you are the only person defining yourself by the past by your thoughts and your baggage. Take Jerry's advice and set the bags down. I was just reintroduced to the song Change Your Mind by Sister Hazel and so I'll leave you with their words that say it all.
If you want to be somebody else,
If you're tired of fighting battles with yourself
If you want to be somebody else
Change your mind
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