Death of a Frenemy

Going Out Of Business. You guys are so lucky.

This is beyond humiliating.

(Part of my image was borrowed from the internet.)

I was really surprised when my neighbor told me that our local JoAnn’s store had closed down. I had been there just a few weeks before to buy supplies for gifts for my niece’s coming twins. When I was there, I noticed updates to the store from the last time I had been there. Even though I couldn’t afford to shop there often, I presumed others were able to.

I got curious and checked online and found out that the entire JoAnn corporation had gone out of business. Ours wasn’t just an isolated closure of a store that wasn’t doing well. What mixed feelings this brought up! While I disagreed with the direction the chain had been taking, I didn’t wish for their failure. I wished they would get better.

Just as this area is a Pet Black Hole, it is also a Retail Back Hole. There used to be several fabric stores in the county, but now there are none. You can buy a few calicoes or a bit of fleece at Michael’s (there is no Hobby Lobby in this area), but you’re up a creek if you want to do any upholstery work or make outerwear. There are some online sources for fabrics, but I hate to buy without being able to touch and see the fabric in person. What is “heavy” to you may not be to me.

On top of this, recent news has featured shipping companies’ use of non-English speaking illegal workers to drive trucks in the country. More were hired during the shutdown because there was a sudden increase in the demand for goods shipped to homes. While these drivers are to be commended for finding work, it turns out their lack of familiarity with the country’s language(s) has led to an inordinate number of accidents. Now authorities are cracking down on drivers without proper qualifications. This means shipping companies will no longer be able to abuse their workers by making them live in their trucks or monkeying with the logs so that they work more hours than they are allowed. To us, it means that shipping costs are going to go up. Hooray, first our B&Ms are pushed out, and now we will have trouble affording shipping costs.

This news comes at a time of my own personal identity crisis. Last year my PT recommended that I go to OT. He said, “Wouldn’t it be nice to do some exercises and be able to go back to doing the things you love?” Yes, that did sound nice. My OT, however, said that I need to avoid activities that put stress on my joints. It turns out that most of the things I do/did put undo stress on my joints. In other words, I have to stop doing them.

Since OT, I’ve been trying to figure out who am I? What do I do? Working with my hands was my way of dealing with legs that don’t function properly. Now no hands? As I go through my One Thing Each Day challenge, I’m trying to figure out how much fabric I should keep. Is sewing even a part of my future? If it isn’t, what is?

Even though I may no longer need JoAnn’s services, I am saddened that the business is gone. Maybe with the country’s focus on making goods in America, we’ll find ourselves in a position to open fabric supply stores that have goods people will actually want to work with (natural fibers!!!) and be able to afford.

The gifts I made from my recent (last) trip to JoAnn’s.

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Cross stitched afghan with roses and bows on it.

For beautiful, made in America, tariff-free gifts, come visit my shop at L Bowman Studios!

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Casino Conundrum

Poker chips

Is it really a conundrum? Nah, but the alliteration sounds good.

A few weeks ago, planners in a nearby town started considering allowing a casino to be built in their failing mall. The hope was that it would help to revive the mall and the town with new jobs and new revenue.

Editorial columns in the local paper have been filled with letters reminding city leaders that casinos do not generate wealth, only redistribute it….and this area doesn’t have a lot to start with. To add another wrinkle to the plans, this past week one of the three remaining anchor stores in the mall announced that they are closing their doors. Yikes.

I know that this is part of economic cycles and that the nature of retail will change from generation to generation. That doesn’t stop me from panicking about not being able to find goods when I need them. I counted on Sears for sturdy cookware and outdoor lawn and gardening tools. The only B & M store left in this area is Walmart. Unless you are looking for stretchy tween leggings or oversized stuffed animal heads, you are going to be out of luck.

Two Cairn terriers sitting in the grass.

The boys are encouraging me to go to the Sears closing sale to stock up on whatever we might need to last us until B&M stores come back into fashion. Since that might never happen, we might need to buy a lot of stuff!

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Things We Take for Granted

Cairn terrier sitting with marigolds.

Toby visiting the new statue and enjoying the marigolds.

At mass this weekend, the topic of parish closings came up. It seems that with all of the scandal in the Catholic church, attendance is dangerously low (as is financial support), and there is a very real chance that we could lose our church. For some reason I had never considered this as a possibility.

Our church isn’t one of the oldest, but it has been around for 50 years. A lot of work has been done with building maintenance, improvements to the grounds and even adding a statue of the patron saint. Not only is it a big part of the community, but it is where dog people in the area meet to talk and exercise their pups. My boys grew up there and are known by everyone.

Since I have MCS, being in buildings with a lot of people wearing perfume and having cigarette smoke on their clothes is more than I can bear, so I haven’t attended mass in a good while. I still participate in as many other aspects of the community as I can, however.

I didn’t realize until today just how much I would miss it if our church weren’t here. I know a lot of other people are going through the same thing. October is the month when then count attendance in order to determine which churches are closed and which kept open. I am hoping to struggle through as many services as I can to do my part to keep this one open. I hope that most churches are able to weather this storm and continue to provide good things for their communities for years to come.

Good luck with yours!

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Need to distract yourself from being sad over things that are not in your control? Consider reading Poopiter! It is a fun little distraction with plenty of stories about these naughty pups.

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