He owned a stationary shop full of pens and pencils, papers, cards, ink wells, journals, and anything one could need for writing and correspondence.
04.21.2021
I have drawers full of different kinds of writing and drawing utensils. I really only use about five of them in a six-month period, but I like that I have choices. That seems like some of the charm of the stationary shop, too. Even with all of the carefully curated collections and fine options, most people are looking for that one special pen or the stationary to use as a signature for their household. It’s not from a fine stationary shop, but the pencil I have primarily used, back to high school years is the Zebra M-301 mechanical pencil, which takes 0.5 mm lead. Great for making fine lines; I always have four or five of these stashed around the house.
Albert lived at 7 Pickle Street, which was a narrow house on the corner.
04.20.2021
I have a friend who grew up in St. Louis and who introduced me once to a documentary specifically about St. Louis brick, called “Brick By Chance and Fortune”. It was fascinating to hear about the history of this building material in the city, about the unique patterns used by different builders, and of the more recent concerns about brick thievery in struggling parts of the city.
We are friends with a couple who also live in a brick home in a historic neighborhood in St. Louis. They have lived in the area for most of their adult lives, raising their family, and now have grandkids there in the same neighborhood. When we get the chance to visit, we have wonderful conversations in their home over tea and coffee, and we always leave feeling encouraged and inspired. One of my most anticipated parts of our visits , is when the husband of the pair shares a new project he’s working on and then leads me out to his workshops to see them in person. He restores classic British motorcycles, hand-carves stocks for custom rifles, casts his own pieces to fix up two-hundred year-old French stoves, and on and on. Every project and item in the workshop has a story behind it and I love getting to hear every one of them. Albert’s house is just slightly like their house, though I can’t imagine it being nearly as interesting.
There once was a man named Albert Willis. Any day of the week he could be found, dressed in a cardigan and a neat bow tie.
04.19.2021
This is the beginning of a story called ‘The Key Lime Pie’. As I mention in the About section of the website, the storytelling of The Daily Parade is meant to be like a story told from the front seat of the car. ‘The Key Lime Pie’ actually did originate with a telling from that position. I was driving my wife, daughter, and mother-in-law around the countryside in northwestern Arkansas not long ago, and my daughter asked if I would tell her a story from my mind. She meant that it was not an audio book, not a read-aloud story, but an on-the-spot, never heard before story. So, I started one up with this gentleman, Albert Willis.
Albert’s dressing habits are ones that I appreciate, even if I don’t always practice them fully myself. I have hardly ever worn a bow tie and it is rare for me to wear a tie in general. If I do, I would tend toward a long neck tie with a Double Windsor knot. I do wear cardigans fairly frequently, though most often while at home in the winter. Winters at home with cups of tea, drawing, a cardigan and warm socks makes me happy, and the cardigan seems to please Albert as well.
And they are still out there in the midst of them.
04.16.2021
Here we are, the last illustration for Jack and Sebastian on the blog, at least for now. The timing of launching The Daily Parade, my recent doodling of a man and a rabbit regarding one another and the need to choose a beginning point, led to spending a lot more time exploring how these two might spend their days. It was a good focus to begin with. I am a fairly vulnerable person, and it helped to start with something which I didn’t have a large emotional attachment to. I had no storyline in mind as I started to sketch rabbit ears, and I gave myself the permission to just begin something new. I have a thankful fondness for these two now, and I hope they’ll show up for more adventures in the days to come.
This mountaintop setting is a reference to a summer trip that we took a few years ago to Norway. We stayed in a farmhouse in roughly the middle of the west coast of the country. We were surrounded by a mix of forests, fjords, mountains, and fields. We spent most of our time hiking, visiting a few small towns in the area, and collecting shells and stones on the shores of the fjords. A short drive around the water from the farmhouse was a row of mountains, the tallest being Heilhornet. I decided that a goal for the month we were there was to climb Heilhornet, and I was thankful to get to climb it twice. The first time, it was incredibly foggy and after summitting, I could see nothing except the twenty feet of rock around me and partial views of the other nearby peaks. The second time, I backpacked up to a chain of lakes and camped the night before continuing up to the summit. The sun never really set while we were there, and I made my camp in an eery light. As I got to the top the next day, it was full sun and the views of the interlaced fjords and surrounding evergreen forests was breathtaking. I plan to do it again someday, though I hope to have a friend along with me to share the experience.
Jack and Sebastian waved excitedly as they saw one another by the dock. It had felt such a long time since they had been together, but as they greeted one another with warm hugs and laughter aboard the sailboat, it was like old times again. As they sailed out of the bay towards an open horizon, they talked excitedly of the possibility of new adventures to come.
04.15.2021
These friends get to see one another again after some time having their separate experiences. Some part of Jack and Sebastian has held some processing for me about friends taking different paths. I have cherished different seasons of life where I got to walk closely with various friends, and I’ve struggled when our paths diverged. It is always a great gift when a good conversation or a shared adventure comes about with these friends. Even though we’re all journeying in unique directions, I enjoy that we still get to keep building our friendships along the way.
That being said, the best solution I have found for myself was to marry a best friend and then spend most of your free moments dreaming about and planning adventures together. My wife and I love to talk about trips we’d like to take, things we’d like to see, and projects we’d like to work on. We lean into those with the work we do and how we rest and play, and the dreaming and doing are some of my favorite things. So thankful for my faithful companion—she’s a true champion.