My husband and I can't pass an antique store without going in. We always walk out with some little knickknack we absolutely don't need and absolutely bring home anyway. Mostly piggies. But also birds, turtles, fishies, whatever looks cute. Glass, ceramic, wood, stone, it's all fair game.
A couple weeks ago we were at the Antique Mall in Hallowell, Maine. Two whole buildings full of stuff. My husband likes to pick up every single little thing, so he takes his time. I'm more of a scanner: I look from across the room and zoom in on whatever catches my eye. So I usually end up a few aisles ahead of him.
That's how I found the dog. A little porcelain dog sitting on a shelf, and something about it just struck me. He was well loved, a bit scuffed and faded. Certainly vintage. He seemed to be rolling his eyes, and his demeanor grabbed me. It took me straight back to my childhood. I think I had a porcelain bunny I really loved when I was a wee lad. I saw the price tag, six dollars, and figured I'd get him. But I didn't need him. And, if I'm being honest, I don't even like dogs that much. So I put him back down.
We finished our tour, bought a whole haul of other stuff, and got in the car. We're driving home when my husband goes, "there was this cute little dog on a shelf way in the back..."
I couldn't believe it. He'd found him too. Picked him up, held him, and put him back down, same as me. We laughed the rest of the drive about the fact that we'd both fallen for the same silly little dog and neither of us said a word. So we made a deal. If the doggie's still there next time we come back, he's ours.
Today was Hallowell Pride. We spent the whole day with it: the vendors, the parade, time with our community. When it was getting to be time to head out, we walked back to the car, which just happened to be parked right by the Antique Mall.
So I turned to my husband and said, should we go check if that little doggie is still there?
We did. And he was.
So we brought him home.
