Just received even more confirmation that striking up a conversation with a total stranger can be amazing. Evan and I were in Lake Lure this morning for a photography project and we decided to have lunch in the beautiful little village of Chimney Rock. Afterwards we were checking out the shops and stepped in a place called John Bull Trading Company, if the name alone doesnt tip you off...all of the British flags inside should...this place specializes in gifts and unique items from Great Britain and her territories. George Harrison was on the speakers as we came in and I began to slowly realize that the gentleman behind the counter was singing along...and humming along with the guitar solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps...I liked him already. A conversation about the Beatles was in full swing at the register when a Tom Petty tune came on the box..and I could not resist the temptation to make a crack about smoking weed to my new friend...after all, Tom Petty was on the air at that moment. This is when things started to get quite interesting. My new friend is named John and he is a white haired senior citizen with an English accent that makes you tune in and listen to every word...but I wasnt quite prepared for what he was about to tell me. John decided it would be cool to tell a complete stranger about his first experience smoking grass as he calls it and related to me the most amazing story about getting high for the first time in an authentic Native American teepee that one of his friends was apparently living in at the time, which I am assuming was at some point in the early Seventies. I listened with fascination to his stories of experimentation, life and love for over an hour. When the time finally came to part company, I asked John where he was living when all of this had taken place...a tiny little village called Morganton, actually not far from here, I was an engineer fresh out of school when a company called Great Lakes Carbon hired me and brought me to America...I fell in love and never went back...ever heard of the town?...Yes, John...Ive heard of Morganton. My friends, we live in a very small world, get out there and make it even smaller. :)
Posted on: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 19:37:55 +0000
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