Balancing Sidewalk and Nature

Rose and I did make it to Yogawood together this morning. Unlike the last time we went together, the class was fairly empty, seven people counting us and the teacher Jill. We did a lot of back bending and stretching the back and torso. I'm still wobbly on those, though my balance is getting better. I really wish I were in better shape. Even after two years of working out, I'm STILL in lousy shape.

I had an early lunch after Rose dropped me off at home. I woke up late and had a really fast breakfast. My first stop after I ate was this week's library volunteering. I hadn't done the children's DVDs in a few weeks, and they REALLY needed to be organized. There were tons of DVDs to put away, too.

It was such a gorgeous day, I just rode around for a while after leaving the library. I took the bike down Cuthbert Road and just kept going, all the way to Cooper River Park. This part of the park is between Collingswood and Cherry Hill, with two highways bordering it. I had a great ride. It was into the lower 60s by that time, about 1PM, perfectly sunny and breezy. There were tons of people out jogging, walking, fishing, or picnicking with their kids.

After leaving the park, I rode down Haddon Avenue and back into downtown Collingswood. I didn't feel like going home, and it was too nice of a day to sit around, so I decided to hop a train into Philly and do something I've wanted to do for a while. Several months ago, I made a list of as many thrift shops as I could find listed online for Center City Philadelphia and their addresses in the hope of checking them out. I hadn't gotten around to it until today. Either I'd forget the addresses, or I'd have another reason for going into Philly.

It was a great day for thrift shopping. The weather was just as nice in Philly, and there were lots of people out and around for a Tuesday afternoon in March. I tried one store on Spruce Street that was strictly used furniture before deciding it would be worth the hike to head for South Street. South Street is downtown Philly's hip mecca of shopping, where the bohemian meets the Society Hill swells.

I love South Street. While it's apparently not quite as funky as it was in past years, it's still a pretty damn cool area. There's tons of hip boutiques, vintage clothes shops, coffee shops, ice cream parlors (I didn't know Haagan Daas was sold anywhere but in tubs at the grocery store!), art galleries, night clubs, and awesome murals. (The one at the fire station was really cool!) I grabbed a Starbucks chai and slice of low-fat Cinnamon Coffee Cake and just watched the passing crowd.

My favorite find was Retrospect, a really cool vintage clothes shop with great prices. The place was surprisingly packed when I got in, and I found out why when I took a good look at the clothes. They sold real vintage stuff - wide legged "hip hop" pants and empire-waisted baby-doll frocks from the 90s, 80s prom gowns with huge puffed sleeves, long full skirts, and big bows in the back, bright polyester blouses and knit sweaters and ponchos from the 70s, even fur coats and paisley-print minidresses from the 60s! They had some other stuff as well - records, furniture, books, shoes, and other accessories. A few of the dresses had light stains on them, but most everything was in near-mint shape. I felt like a kid playing with Mom's dress-ups again. There was even a long pink gown covered with lace that reminded me of the dress our Victorian Barbie from the early 80s wore when my sisters and I were little.

I bought a really cute periwinkle blue sundress from the early 80s (according to the tag). It has spaghetti straps and and a two-tiered ruffled skirt in periwinkle with off-white polka-dots. Much to my delight, though the tag said $15, the dress turned out to be $7, thanks to a 50% certain merchandise sale. Had I known that many things were on sale, I would have gotten far more! I'll certainly go back there the next time I have money.

It was around 5PM by the time I hiked all the way back to 8th Street and the Gallery Mall. I was going to browse around in there, but I was dead tired. I briefly checked out Suncoast before hopping a busy rush-hour train home.

The cruiser bike managed to make it to the White Horse Pike, right near PNC Bank, before I heard a huge pop! I thought it was a car backfiring...but then I saw the air going out of my back tire. The worn-out tire I'd had since I got the bike five years ago finally chose now to give. This is the second time one of my tires busted right after I got the damn thing fixed. And of course, my neighbor wasn't home, and Dad wasn't either. I tried to patch it myself, but the patch kit I bought had lousy directions, and I couldn't figure out how to lift the tire or put it back. I tried to just put the patches on, but the tire wouldn't fill with air.

My landlady Miss Ellie suggested taking it to a nice man who owns an auto repair shop and helps with her car tomorrow. I doubt he can do much, but I'll try. I don't have much of a choice. I don't have the time to run to Wal Mart and buy another tire until Saturday...I work tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday!