31 Oct November at Experienced Goods

Sometimes I think my cats do hilarious things just to give me something to write about.  Often this involves chasing a mouse, although it’s not so hilarious when they do it in the middle of the night. Here’s how it unfolded recently: They had been galloping around the upstairs in pursuit of a rodent since the wee hours. Somewhere around 6 am I surmised they had cornered it in the bathroom, a space with few hiding places and where I could potentially catch the mouse in a Tupperware container and put it outside to live another day. I entered the bathroom to find Nuala (the muscle of the sisters; Emmy Lou is the brains) tightrope walking along the shower curtain rod and the mouse balanced on a tiny ledge at the top of the shower, terrified. I cupped the container over the mouse, but it wiggled out the side and in an acrobatic leap, landed on my head and ran across my shoulders. After uttering the obligatory yelp, I looked around to see where it had landed….on the floor? In the shower? Under the tub? I took off my bathrobe and shook it out, thinking it had scuttled inside, but no mouse. No mouse anywhere!  Not a good sign. The girls and I scanned the bathroom…the tiny rodent had pulled a Harry Potter and disappeared. And then I heard it, the scrabbling on the arm of my bathrobe. Harry the wizard mouse clung there, climbing to safety. I gently plucked him from my arm by the tail, dropped him in the Tupperware and took him outside, the girls glaring at me reproachfully for spoiling their game.  

How does this anecdote apply to Experienced Goods and Hospice? It doesn’t, really, other than to say it made me laugh and was a great story to tell my coworkers that day, especially the ones who live with cats and appreciate the limitless ways they delight us.  Connections like this are the foundation of the work we do at the shop, and they allow us to form strong, cooperative relationships, counting on each other to do the (sometimes literal) heavy lifting, understanding each other’s strengths and challenges, being willing to step in when needed. As I’ve said many times in this space, we are a very good team, and as busy as the shop has been lately, we’ve relied on that teamwork to keep things running efficiently and with a minimum of stress. Donations have been abundant (thank you, donors!) and foliage season was phenomenal in terms of the number of shoppers who helped us raise money for Brattleboro Area Hospice. We’ve become a destination for folks visiting Brattleboro, many of whom have never been to Experienced Goods before and express astonishment at the visual appeal of the shop, the variety of quality merchandise and the crazy low prices. They will be back, I guarantee it. Once a thrifter discovers a store like ours, it becomes a kind of holy grail of shopping.  

Cozy sweaters, warm coats, winter boots, skates and skis, hats, mittens and toasty scarves, everything Halloween (and yes, Christmas, too!), these have been the news-makers at Experienced Goods lately. As the news of the world becomes ever more anxiety-producing and appalling, I think the shop provides a bit of respite from the overwhelm. Some new-to-you winter clothes, a good book, a pretty piece of jewelry, these are small comforts that help us feel more able to face the onslaught, whatever it may be. We will get through these next few weeks and months with the same good cheer and determination to move forward that make our store, our town, our state and region  a place that bravely engages with the world but also knows how to focus on the comforts and nourishment of home. ~ Jennie Reichman