So ! I was walking back to my car from the barbershop ... no, let me start a little earlier... i was driving to the parkinglot, to park my car, to GO to the barbershop... to get a haricut... when i passed a little store, some little Botany store, 'Botanica somethingsomething' i believe it was. Yes. Botanica in the big letters, a nice champagne gold, Times New Roman font I believe, very old world.... and then little-er text beneath it ... Bontanical Emporium perhaps? That's what I'd call it.... So i said to myself... "Self..... I would like to visit this perplexing little store some day.... perhaps today? after my haircut?.... Now fast forward, I park in the CVS parkinglot and quickly enter the CVS.... quickly.... to buy..... deodorant...... i was all out... i used the self checkout and apple pay on my phone, didnt even have to swipe... transaction took all of 15 seconds.... very lovely.... now anyways, then i walk, briskly, towards the barber shop, wait... and wait and wait.... about 45 minutes maybe... then get my haircut.... by this point, i am looking fine and dandy... and have forgotten all about the little store..... so i make my way out of the shop, and down towards the parkinglot, walking down the main broadway, towards my car, when suddently i remember it! I cross the street... and enter the little store..... now here's where it gets good.....

I enter the store quizzically.. I was expecting plants ! But no....... this place was filled with... Jars.. filled with...... herbs? powdered and otherwise... but i am getting ahead of myself. I enter the store. There are two men, both.... tan. in complexion... dominican perhaps? Now, one is sitting like quite the character, he's got no shoes on, just loose little grey socks, with forest green toecaps, and both his feet are up on the counter, but not crisscrossed, calfs down or anything, no, knees bent. like he's giving birth. he's on his phone, feet on the corner of the countertop, he's encircled, ensquared i should say, in a little rectnagle of counters, like a jewlerry store, except it's all wood... now.. jjust a few more detials on him.... he's middle aged, maybe late 30s, but id guess early 40s, on the average side of height id imagine, he never did stand up... and a bit on the skinnier side, wearing a loosely fitting, but correctly proportioned grey longsleeve shirt. and lightwash jeans, faded slightly, quite raggedy looking in appearance, really. oh, and he had short length hair and a goatee. I won't bother describing the other man too much because he was more or less the same, just a bit fat, average middle aged man fat. with dad shoes on, nike air monarchs or something.

now, so, right. I enter the store, and I ask, "what's this?" because of course, i was expecting plants. now, my memory is a bit hazy on what the heavier man said but it was something along the lines of.... "oh..." or "should i help him?" asking the other guy. fat guy was standing kind of against a wall just chilling. now, this is the part that stuck with me..... skinny man goes "No, .... no. he knows what it is." Now this was quite interesting .... because truthfully, i DID know what it was. I knew what they were up to, and selling there. the moment i walked in. Santería. it was a Santería store. There are a lot of these where I'm from. I knew it almost instantly, from the religious incongraphy, saints, crosses, african wooden carved masks on the walls, candles, and all the herbs. for spells maybe id guess....

as i walked down the store, it was quite a small store mind you, just a single room and one big open aisle, with that big rectangle outpost in the middle, anyways. As i walked down the store i was reading all the labels, just making my way down. im trying to remember some... Kava Kava.... Cinquefoil....Marjoram....Hyssop...Rue.... things like that. There were dozens and dozens, shelves stacked higher than my head.

As i reached towards the back of the store there were 2 children, they seemed to be in good spirits, laughing at an ipad or something like that, there was a glass cabinet in the back, it looked very dirty and unkempt inside, there as stuff like dirt, and bundles of sticks... I do believe there was a little staircase in the back of the store, behind a doorway, that room, with the staircase was illuminated in yellow light. at some point or another a women enters the store and heads towards the back with the kids.

As im making my way back around, i try to snap a picture, but everyone in the store all at once stops me and says "no pictures!". literally each of them a few seconds apart.. the sock man, and the lady with the kids behind me... I managed to get only one blurry picture. The one i posted you saw. Well, after that i apoglogized, of course. and continued on my way back towards the entrance, gazing at the masks (but not for too long....) and looking at some of the book covers, all in spanish, with images of saints and stuff on them. I do implore you to read up on Santería if you havent.... especially if this is ur first time hearing about it.... quite the rabbithole. interesting stuff....

anyhow, then i exited the store and thanked them for their time, the fatter man was standing at the door gazing out past the sidewalk into the street, i said excuse me and passed him, and continued walking back to my car.

in the parking lot i saw a familiar face, a man i saw at the barbershop not 6 months prior, it was on a day when we were all discussing boxing, old greats, new greats, and whatnot. he opened up about his anger issues, and having gone to therapy for them, and having enjoyed boxing in his past, i invited him to the gym. he never did end up showing. but i passed him in the parkinglot today! i said hello and invited him again... he told me he had just been shot in the leg not 2 weeks ago up... somewhere. cant recall, he said he got into a fight, but he was "whooping ass tho" (his words) he seemed to be in good spirits, it's the tail end of winter mind you, so he was wearing sweatpants, naturally, and i couldnt see his legs, but he was standing fine as day! gesticulating as he was sharing with me this short story.... nevertheless, i bid him goodbye, and urged him to "stay safe!" a common goodbye for all i meet.

And that was a little bit about my day today. Thank you for reading, dear friend, I hope you stay safe too.

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P.S. - i will work on cleaning up the site soon... making bullet points and hotlinks and whatnot... how spoiled you are..... ♥ [2/15/2020 update, Done ! ♥]

P.P.S. - i have a little discreet keychain camera... perhaps i will go back there and record a little video or try to make conversation... do let me know if this would be of interest to you......