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coffee shop scene

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

The smooth jazz floats through the air, completing the perfect coffee shop scene in small town Texas.

I set down my carmel macchiato and pull out my favorite writing notebook, and I begin to take in the variety of people sitting throughout the small coffee shop. I watch as two old men walk in and sit at the big round table in the middle of the room.
“The usual for you boys?” said the waitress.
“Sure Patty,” says one of the men. “I like you hair today, did you change it for Thanksgiving?”
I smile at the familiarity that can only happen in a small town.

 

 

My mind focuses on the conversation between two men sitting behind me as they argue over government conspiracies and presidential elections before they are interrupted by a personal pizza and house salad. One of the men quickly blesses the food before they pick up a new conversation on the movie business—government conspiracies forgotten for the moment. The younger sounding man begins to talk about his idea for a movie. In his excitement he talks fast, his vision for a movie soon laid on the table much like the personal pizza in front of him.

His movie is your typical chick flick. Boy saves girl, boy and girl fall madly in love, boy and girl have a huge fight that threatens said love, boy fights for girl and says things like, “I can’t live without you”, girl forgives boy and they proceed to live happily ever after together with no other interruptions.

“I know there are lots of movies along these lines,” he says, ”But I just don’t think there are any exactly like this, and I would like to film it in a small town because the people here are pretty gullible, all that matters to them is that they get some recognition.”

The older man takes a moment to reply, sitting quietly and thinking over his next words. He sighs loudly and says, “Son I’ve been in this business a long time and frankly I have no idea what you’re talking about. If you’ve come here to ask for my help than I suggest you don’t insult the people of small town Texas.”

Old man for the win.

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antique week

Monday, October 29, 2012

Today, my mom and I took the day,  just the two of us, to drive out to the little town of Round Top and check out the last day of the very popular Antique Week. We watched the rolling hills speed past as we hurried to get started with our shopping… The clock already reminding us that we didn’t have a lot of time to spend. Clocks seem to be doing that a lot lately.

We found a parking spot in the busy little town, and ventured into one of the most talked about places in Round Top… The Pie Haven. A quaint little coffee shop that also offers a huge variety of pies from the equally famous Royers Cafe. My mom and I quickly threw our plans for “healthy eating” to the wind and ordered iced tea, lemonade, and cranberry chocolate chip cookies, mmm was it worth it!

On a normal day Round Tops population is a quaint ninety one people, but during antique week thousands upon thousands of people from all over Texas and beyond come to stay for two weeks. Bringing with them tents bigger than your backyard and quickly filling the fields surrounding Round Top with “pretty junk”. Before you know it people and junk are fighting for space.

Even though its October, Texas won’t have any cool weather for a few weeks. Everyone is still wearing shorts, sipping on iced tea, and eating scoops of Blue Bell ice cream. We walk through the tents passing expensive antique furniture that is piled high with plastic dolls that look like they could be Chucky’s sister. Antique week has something for everyone!

 

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my hometown-

Friday, September 28, 2012

For the first 8 years of my life, my family and I lived all over the world in places like Abu Dhabi, Holland, and Singapore. We had adventures in the sands of the United Arab Emirates, we huddled around books, reading them aloud in our small and cozy Holland home. and we ventured out on bike rides together through the parks in Singapore, the monkeys swinging overhead. But then, we moved back to Texas to a small town called Bellville that seems to be stuck somewhere between now and a hundred years ago. That’s where we’ve been for the last 8 years.

Adjusting to small town life isn’t easy for a girl that has adventure flowing through her veins. I crave change and being busy. Everyday I can hear the world calling my name, inviting me to come and explore all that it has to offer. Each day I prepare myself for the day that I can leave this small town and never look back.

I did, however, spend most of the summer away from small town Bellville, going on a 6,000 mile road trip adventure along the East coast with my family. We visited places like Washington DC, Philadelphia, and best of all… New York! There is definitely nothing small town about New York, and I couldn’t have been happier about that. Sadly though all too soon it was time to go back to small town Bellville. School was starting and the summer of travels was coming to an end. How does one go from big city adventures to small town Texas? I didn’t want to go back, that was for sure.

But go back I did, and as we pulled into Bellville everything was just as I had left it. The hard wear store sign was still broken, the same old beat up truck was still for sale in someones yard, and everyone was still doing the same monotonous activities . I couldn’t believe how boring it seemed compared to all the wonderful places I had visited. But then, the lady at the video store still knew my name and wanted to know where I had been lately, and the old man who locks the doors to the grocery store at 8:00 on the dot still let me come in even though it was 8:07 and they were closed, the ladies at the library made comments on how grown up I had gotten and were so excited to hear about the places I had gone. Just like that it didn’t feel so bad to be back. In fact I finally started to feel like I had come home. And I was ok with that… for now.

bailey anne photography

In the end, the world needs small hometowns like Bellville to come home to after big adventures. Because there is something comforting in knowing that everything will still be the same, even if you’ve changed. And everyone will still be there waiting to welcome you back with open arms.

 

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“I never realized how much I like being home, until I’ve been somewhere really different for awhile.” – Juno

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| who would you spend forever with? |

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

photograph//my own.

words//someone elses

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