28 Apr News from Experienced Goods May 2022

By Jennie Reichman

Gratitude. A word I have used many times in this column to describe how I feel about my workplace and co-workers, our donors, our intrepid shoppers, the town and region we live in. It’s a lovely word that I don’t want to overuse for fear of diminishing it, but stopping what I am doing several times a day and thinking about what I am grateful for is both humbling and fortifying, a reminder that I am incredibly fortunate and that fortune is also fragile.

As we proceed with planning and renovations in our new retail and donations space at 80 Flat Street, I have been thinking about buildings. Structures and shelter have been part of the human story from earliest history. Buildings have taken the shape of primitive mud and straw huts to mind-boggling cathedrals, constructed from any material that will stand upright and hold its shape. Buildings keep us out of the weather, fortify us from intruding forces, contain us, make us feel both safe and sometimes trapped.  Shelter is synonymous with human existence. It’s also one of those things it’s easy to take for granted. Most of us live in houses or apartments, familiar and comfortable, that we forget to be grateful for.  Experienced Goods is housed in a building that has served us well for 15 years, and now we are creating a new and exciting space for the store. I am both grateful for the space we are leaving, and amazed at the gradual transformation of our new location into the store of our dreams. How lucky are we, that we can make the choices and decisions that will result in a shiny new place for Experienced Goods to serve the community!

Some of my musings about buildings stem from my almost daily walks around downtown Brattleboro on my lunch hour. Many of the buildings in town have stood for well over a century, changing little from the era of horse-drawn buggies and unpaved roads. They are stalwart brick edifices that seem indestructible, built for function but with an eye to beauty as well. Like most of us these days, I have seen the images of the war in Ukraine, towns so similar to ours reduced to rubble. There is something about a bombed-out building that is heart-rending and strangely intimate, like a body with bones and internal organs exposed. I look up at the familiar buildings of Brattleboro and try to picture them gutted and crumbling, and I am jolted into the realization that we are incredibly fortunate to see and make use of these buildings every day. Buildings, like people, become beloved constants in our lives, and like people, they deserve attention and gratitude for their existence.

I grew up in a house that was built by my father and his friends, on 14 acres of land surrounded by woods and orchards. As a child, I told my parents that if they ever sold that house and property, they would have to sell me with it. As it turned out, I grew up and moved away and my mom sold the house and land after my dad died. A few years ago I logged onto Google Earth, curious if I could find my childhood home using the miracle of drone-generated photos. I found the property, but the house was gone, torn down and replaced with (to my eyes) an awkward monstrosity of modern architecture. It was a gut-punch, as if an actual part of me had been obliterated. I grieved then and still do now, for the house that lives only in my memory.

So, gratitude. For all that we take for granted every day: people, work, transportation, food, play, love, and buildings. As we get closer and closer to making the next version of Experienced Goods a reality, we at the shop are so looking forward to celebrating our new home with all of you.  May it take up residence in our hearts as much as the old home has, and become that place we always expect to be there, but also remember to be grateful for.