Something You Can't Buy at Wal-Mart

I played hooky today (vacation) so me and Ol' Buddy took a ride out to Jasper. I had to shoot a picture for an advertiser on my website and while I was standing there setting up the shot, I looked down and saw a yellow cat eye marble. I had not seen one in many years and it took me a few seconds to realize what it was. What on earth was a yellow cat eye doing by the crosswalk in downtown Jasper. It was a mystery but it did give me an idea of a place I wanted to visit and write about this evening.
Posey's is an old mercantile store that has been in continuous operation in the same location since 1924. The great grandson, Randy Posey still owns and operates the store. The door jangles with an old entry bell when you walk in....can you say deja vu? The floors are made of heart pine and they squeak in places as you walk through browsing the shelves.
I know Randy must have thought me strange because once inside, I stood there a long while and absorbed the ambiance. The place smelled like the old stores from my childhood. Posey's actually has a lot of the things the stores had back then. In the front window there was butter churns, old speckled blue coffee pots, and mason jars. There is an old red hand water pump. A neighbor had one of these when I was a kid and we used to go over to their house to get a drink of cold water when the summer day got hot and our mouths got dry . One of us would bend over and open our mouth and the other would pump until a refreshing stream of cold water came rushing out.
Poesy's has fly swatters made out of metal screen instead of plastic. Hanging on the back wall was a Radio Flyer snow sled. A kid here might only have an opportunity once or twice in their lives to use one, but if you need one, you can get it at Posey's. Outside on the side were Radio Flyer coaster wagons. It was like a page torn right out of my memory.
I bought some collars for my dogs, a toy kaleidoscope and a cane penny whistle for my niece and nephew Breeze and Stone.
I stood and talked to Randy Posey for a while about his store. Most of the things in there are made in America. I won't bash the super stores because they provide things that were unavailable here before they came. But I hope stores like Posey's stay in business because not only do they sell things that are unique and beautiful, they can also send you on a journey back to a happy, simpler time and that's something you can't buy at Wal-Mart.