staying in "the rock"

a.k.a. "little rock", arkansas. left nashville yesterday and headed to little rock, via memphis. stopped in memphis for about an hour to walk up and down beal st - which is actually REALLY SEEDY in the daylight. but there was a live band playing in a shabby little park off to the side, and though there were only about 5 people watching, they were really rocking. very cool.

i walked into this unbelievable store on beal - can't remember the name - shevda's or something - it was like stepping back in time. and through molasses. things moved really slowly in there. the air was humid and dusty and i felt myself stepping slower. they sold everything there. candy, souvenirs, nick nacks. overalls, long underwear, walking sticks, teapots, everything, - ladies' hats, too. all in these waist-high shallow wooden bins, evenly spaced throughout the ware-house sized room. wooden, creaky floors that felt like they'd been there forever. i was over by the long underwear section (just to look!), and this older gentleman with large sunglasses on (i think he was blind), was questioning the store's owner about the long underwear. he was wearing a worn suit that seemed so southern to me - thin tie, wrapped into a bow, walking stick, brown overcoat and pants, straw hat. he actually had a drawl "i work at the...uh....penitentiary....uh in xxxx (can't remember the town), and we're (wee-ahhh) looking to sell things like drawers (drawahs) and undahshirts and even ladies' brahs." they were striking a deal of some sort - to sell the goods that the prisoners were making. the old guy went on "and i had heard (huh-ahd) about you from your fawthuh, and probably your grandfawthuh."

it was like eavesdropping on a conversation from the past. in a william faulkner novel.

drove through flat, flat n. arkansas to little rock (interesting: st. louis is the gateway to the west because no one could cross the mississippi river at any earlier point. n. arkansas was all marshland. then they tore all the marsh trees down, and made the land into rice fields. now arkansas is the nation's largest rice producer). nealon met me at the clinton library. nealon's a great friend - originally from ak, went to school outside of little rock, and interned with the clinton foundation - now he works there. he gave me the driving tour of the town and we ate in a kitchy little italian place...owned by a belgian.

dad flew in last night to help me with the driving as far as salt lake city (HE can drive a standard). we're staying at the comfort inn (free wifi!), along with loads of hurricane victims from neighboring louisiana. people are clearly living here. coming down for meals with their kids; older people sitting in the lounge in their pyjamas; national guardsmen in uniforms on their way -- where? to help? people are trading stories of where you can go to get supplies on your way home (walmart has clothing and gas, i guess). touring little rock today and then west tomorrow!
ps. mom - there's no WAY you can borrow my boots. they're mine, all mine!