On Monday it was time to say goodbye to Iz and turn around, making my way back North. As I cruised along the Gulf coast I again found myself wishing for more time 1 . I ached to explore Mobile, Alabama and its surrounding bays, inlets, and islands, but my friends were waiting for my arrival in Montgomery and I was eager to see them. The only exploration I managed to do in Mobile was a brief but delicious breakfast on the sunny patio of Maple Street Biscuit Company. It’s a chain with about a dozen sites scattered around the South, but the biscuits are as good as I’ve had anywhere. I was surprised, pleased , and a bit confused that the menu included coffee concoctions and breakfast items made with real maple syrup. The syrup came from Ohio, a place this Vermont boy would never associate with sugar houses, but it still pleased me.
This time it was John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery” that I sang as I headed to my old college friends Ward and Lisa.
Make me an angel that flies from Montgomery
Make me a poster of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing that I can hold on
To believe in this living is just a hard way to go
As I pulled into their driveway I noticed roses blooming in their front yard, glad that there’s still something to surprise and delight me about the December weather here. Their home is is filled with art, their own work and that of others. Lisa’s brilliant, colorful abstract prints were scattered among a small museum’s worth of paintings and other works. Ward has an impressive pottery studio, and creates not just tableware size work, but giant basins, and sconces, and other objects. Though he’s an MD, he’s always had a love for architecture and design. His day job with the VA lets him combine his clinical skills and his creative and problem-solving side, helping them plan new facilities.
We spent the afternoon and evening catching up and discussing old times. I won’t bore you with that.
Although I only had the pleasure of his company a few brief times, I’m so very grateful I got to spend some time with Ward.