Travels of the Bay family and the Yoda Van

Matthias came up with the idea to occasionally have some guest entries on our blogs. This entry is the first guest entry. Our good friend Kim Thomas is the author. Anyone interested in submitting a guest entry should e-mail us at lotzbay@msn.com.

Christmas music has taken a turn for the worse lately, but there is definitely an antidote out there and it is called Bartell Drugs. Not for the drugs, but for the music. I go to Bartell’s a lot just to look around when I think I might need something, like a new toothbrush or canned tuna. When I am between tutoring appointments I feel a pull. I just need to get out of the house, I say to myself. Then I walk outside my building and know where I’m headed.

In Providence CVS Pharmacy had the same pull. Only I never knew why until this afternoon. Today, they were playing Fleetwood Mac in the store when I realized I didn’t need anything. I say “they” like Bartell’s has a purposeful DJ mixing it up in that room behind the milk case. Stevie Nick’s voice was quivering away about a woman who was, I think, flying just like a woman. The drama touched me while I surveyed the Neutrogena products for something that might be suitable for a low cost Christmas present. Then Steely Dan came on, and you know I was hooked. I made every effort to find something that I needed just so that I could see what might be next – just to prolong the groove. Dude, Elton John. Singing “Daniel.”

Nordstrom and Banana Republic and just about every other store on the planet – except for 7-Eleven – issues their own holiday music samplers. I know this is part of a hideously overdeveloped marketing culture. You can’t buy the feeling of the song (“Celebrate good times come on”), but you can buy (well, I did) a headband from the Gap, pale blue suede, that looked like it might hold the key to a funky time. Probably it reminded me of something I wore when the song first came out. If only Bartell’s could issue a lifestyle CD then I could buy it and bring it home and feel great all the time. We who shop regularly, compulsively even, would buy it to keep the sweet sweet feeling of clean rows of boxed Q-tips alive in the home. I wish my bathroom could look handsome and stocked. I don’t have a counter top around my sink, so I keep Q-tips in a ziploc bag and sometimes water gets in and I need to throw them away. See, even though I don’t travel I live like I travel. Think about Billy Joel piano intros and I think you’ll get an image of fresh full bottles of shampoo. The Bee-Gees conjure non-crusty toothbrushes. These are things it sounds like the The Bay family could use.

I don’t spend a lot of money there – maybe I do. It’s just a good time taking it aisle by aisle.

Say Bartell’s went along with me on this one. (They won’t. I asked already. When I asked the woman about an album, “all the greats together at last,” she looked at me like I was playing a Borat stunt. Then she said, Dude, remember K-Tel tapes? Find one.) If they did go along with the concept and produce an album would I become a shut in playing the thing into the ground, possibly tying a scarf around my forehead? Or, would I dump the CD on the crap heap of the rest of the stuff I own and love but ignore? The mystery of this simmers with possibility and remains unknowable. Best of all is the group shot of my favorite cashiers on the imaginary cover – red vests blazing, smartly knotted ties. Efficient yet personable. In control. In the house.

The Bay family travels the world watching the sun set in new colors in different countries. Monkeys may scramble atop their camper. Lizards may flick their tongues in refreshingly foreign languages while the kids play in the sunlight and waves. Mojitos refill themselves in the glass. The ghost of Frieda Kahlo appears in the background of every south-of-the-border family photo. Meanwhile, I walk the familiar roads, checking the environment for potential small discrepancies – signs of change, signs of stasis – and wonder if I am not overly attached to my block, my language, my Bartell Drugs.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 24th, 2006 at 6:56 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.