Short Pump & Richmond, Virginia

Short Pump

Early morning at the Daily Grind. Alyona, a young photographer whose blog I follow, waits while her father ...

... Paul, right, conducts his Saturday drawing class. Sandy, one of his students, is at left.

For the last day our daughter Sherianne, above, and her husband Casey are here we plan to meander through Short Pump and old town Richmond.

First stop is at the new REI store in Short Pump where Keith, above, showed us through the kayaks. I've been a member of the coop since the early 1970s. It is great to have a store nearby again.

Down the way at Jake & Friends, the new Life is Good store in Short Pump, Sadie — yes, another Sadie — demonstrates one of the products while giving me a wary eye.

Richmond

Shocco Bottom

Heather of Fountain Books — my favorite bookstore in town — introduced me to Manhood for Amateurs, a signed, first edition collection of essays by Michael Chabon. I always find something interesting every time I go in there. She also introduced me to Indie Bound, a new iPhone app for independent bookstores.

Casey, left, reads from Dear Old Love: Anonymous Notes to Former Crushes, Sweethearts, Husbands, Wives, & Ones That Got Away to Dianne, center, and Sherianne, right, outside the Fountain Bookstore where he just purchased it. It's hilarious.

Sherianne examines an amber ring in an antique in Shoccoa Bottom, looking for insects among its inclusions.

In Richmond you are never far from history. The page from an 1865 issue of Harpers Weekly displayed in the antique store illustrates Richmond citizens lining up to vote soon after the end of the Civil War. The event took place not too far from where it hangs. It is fascinating the number of Black faces in the crowd, men and women who weeks before had been slaves.

A heavy table moves through the main floor of For the Walls, a store that carries interesting furniture and accessories from across the world.

Our final stop is at Su Casa for dinner. A the table next to us 14-month-old Bradley enjoys Mexican food with his parents and grandparents. He is a friendly little guy who knows no strangers.

Photographs taken with a Leica M8