All I Want for Christmas

With the sun heating us up to a balmy fifty degrees, last Saturday could've practically been springtime in Athens County, Ohio. Practically, but not really, as I ducked out of the path of a chilly December wind and into the vast hangar like shopping mall known as The Market on State, echoing with childrens'voices and music. The first thing to catch my eye was a cluster of glitter dusted, gold flecked, red velveteen poinsettia leaves. This is no springtime sight, although mall shoppers may have been convinced otherwise by the mile long spread of tables loaded with fresh local greens, turnips, potatoes, apples and radishes that lay before them. Still no, because the leaves and small inconspicuous blooms of poinsettias come bursting from shiny, foil coated pots only for one occassion per year. Merry Christmas.

Donning leg hugging skinny jeans, a light coat adorned with a costume jewelry flower pin, and sequin bangled black flats, I was tempting Old Man Winter in more ways than one. With a silver-framed cloth basket in hand, I purchased and toted freshly picked spinach, a bag of dirt-scented fresh mushrooms, green and pink tomatoes and a dozen shiny, sweet red and yellow onions. The farmers in Athens County and in many other places that consider themselves part of a four-season America have taken January by coup d'etat and reclaimed fresh, green produce for all of their grateful consumers. They've mastered the art of seasonal growing, green houses and cool-season crops. For this, I am extremely grateful, because the contents of my trendsetting cloth bag are going to flirt, date, marry and consumate a vegetable lasagna of epic local proportions for a lovely Sunday potluck, celebrating the Winter Solstice.

After taking my leave from the part indoor, part outdoor market, with absolutely divine local Havarti from Laurel Valley Creamery and a sweet, robust Beef Bologna from Athens Own chilling in my cooler, I headed out to visit Athens, Ohio's long lost, red-headed step-child: Nelsonville. I say this because, if you utter the word "Nelsonville," to people from Athens County, you are greeted with a host of negative, skeptical and often classist reactions. However there is beauty to be found in curly red locks and an off-beat personality. Nelsonville is a little like Athens, and a little something all its own. It has to be taken and experienced for what it is, appreciated and loved for its quirks and offerings, and laughed at, or rather laughed with, when necessary.

My grand plan for this entire nippy yet warm, melting Saturday was to partake in some major local Chritmas shopping. I had no intentions of Christmas shopping at all this season. I had planned to make a donation to a local charity and have that serve as a Christmas gift to the short list of people who matter to me most. However, there are two people for whom I wanted to compile something extra special. One I have known for many years, and the other I barely know at all. Both have been wonderful, supportive friends to me this year (or rather a portion of this year), and I know both will enjoy a locally themed gift. I wanted to share a few of my favorite things with them, hoping that in turn would help them know and understand me better. Not forgetting, of course, that local Christmas shopping is the best Christmas gift we can give to our communities. I picked up a few non-perishable foodie things at the Farmer's Market (which I won't explain in detail because I know at least one of them reads this blog), and this is where Nelsonville came into perspective.

There is a little ceramics shop on Nelsonville's Public Square where I've been shopping for years, picking up a piece each time I visit. This shop is stocked exclusively with local art, produced by local artists and is owned and operated by a co-op of these artists. The store itself is perfection. It is tucked into the bottom of multiple story brick building. The front door is at the narrow end of a funnel lined by glass display cases, tempting anyone with an appreciation for thrown pottery and brilliant glazing. Inside, hardwood floors are seemingly endless, leading from the sparesly arranged front to the more heavily showcased back of the stark white store. Each artist's work is clustered together, and everyone I've ever known to shop there has a favorite. Annjudy is mine. She makes bowls, plates and other awesome, practical pieces using Nelsonville's signature Starbrick pattern, and the name of this shop just so happens to be Starbrick.

Of course I didn't leave Starbrick empty handed, so after stopping back at my car (which was parked for free in a space right on the square thanks to the holiday generosity of the City of Nelsonville) I walked over to a new shop called The Joy of Books. As soon as I pulled the door open I heard the familiar jingle of a leather belted strand of sleigh bells as the door closed briskly behind me. The store was dimly lit, and smelled of two distinctly comforting things: a scented holiday candle and old, worn, used books. I love the smell of old books. The shelves of the small, cozy store are lined with delicious second-hand books, pages yellowed, and smelling like Saturday morning at the public library. The owners of the bookstore were warm, and embracing, and more than gracious. Book in hand, I stepped back out onto the constellation like patterns of starbricks and headed around the corner to two more familiar stores.

First I stepped into the Spinning Turtle yarn shop. If you are an avid knitter, crocheter or you have some other fabulous use for yarn, you should pay a visit to this cute, tidy little shop. The yarn in this shop reminds me of Victorian libraries, where the shelves line the walls from top to bottom and a wheeled ladder is required to zip from one end to the next. The walls of this shop are adorned in yarn filled cubbies of all colors and textures. Earlier this fall I'd picked up a skein of sandy sea-shell and tidal blue dyed yarn produced by Manos del Uraguay, a co-op of rural women who spin and dye this wool to support themselves. There is something so satisfying about not only purchasing this yarn, but purchasing it at a locally owned business-supporting women-owned business from Uraguay to Nelsonville.

My last stop in Nelsonville was at Nelsonville Pottery and Arts, directly across the street from the Spinning Turtle. The sun was shining brightly as it was peaking in the late afternoon, and that was certainly reflected by the baking, yellow toned shop in which I found myself. Beaming through the glass of the front window display, sunshine lit up their collections of kitchy Athens Block memorobilia, and locally themed pottery gifts. This store is full of exclusivley local artists, and the art ranges from pottery to jewelry to fabric work and handmade soaps. Like Starbrick, this is a shop that also produces, and sells all the tools one might need to embark down a road of clay and ceramics.

Finally, I made my way back down the old familiar stretch of State Route 33 between Nelsonville and my home away from home, Athens and made one last shopping stop. In Athens there is a place unlike any place I've ever known. In many places in the United States, employment programs are provided by public and private entities for adults with disabilities to have an opportunity to earn a living. Many of these employment programs involve simple, mundane tasks that are repetitive and easy to do and do again. Capping pens for eight hours a day might be the best job for some people, but in Athens they offer an alternative for the adults with disabilities who are incredibly talented, capable human beings in their own right, often more talented and capable than the rest of us who are so priviledged to check box ourselves as "able."

A beautiful Passion Flower to get you through the long winter ahead.

Passion Works is an art studio and art company where adults with disabilities can create, reproduce and sell their artistic creations. It's amazing. Color is far too simple of a word to describe the visual effect the Passion Works store has on shoppers, consumers and passers by. Like a garden, the signature passion flowers bloom, lining beds of other creations like mugs, aprons, t-shirts and greeting cards. An image of two penguins side by side has always been my favorite, although I was swayed by a piece done by the artist of the month, Jason Douglas, detailing from his own point of view, his breakfast options. Foodie art always gets me.

Jason Douglas's painting titled Chef Jason, which I fell in love with.

All said and done, I returned to my apartment with all the things I'd wanted to fill my two special Christmas bundles. I felt good about the money I'd spent, just a county away from the one in which I reside, knowing it wasn't going much further than the tri-county lines of this part of Southeast Ohio. I hope after reading about my local shopping extravaganza, you'll think twice about your weekend that is quickly approaching, and perhaps add a stop at a locally owned business to your mapped out agenda of holiday shopping. Buy some of your holiday gifts at a local business. Knowing that I've influenced you to shop locally is all I want for Christmas.