The Sovereign Grounds latté went down easily, and fueled by the caffeine and cloudy cool fall afternoon we made our way from 49th and Chicago due west through the Tangletown neighborhood and into Linden Hills. We turned the corner from 50th onto Xerxes as the gps proclaimed we had arrived.
Walking through the door I was greeted by the musty welcome that cannot help but cling to vintage paper, wood, and metal products.
One cannot aptly describe a store such as H &G. There is no rhyme or reason to the placement of their wares – film reels hang above animal bones, themselves tabletop neighbor’s to laboratory glassware and 50 year old texts. My son calls it organized chaos because for all the hodge and podge, there is a seeming order to the place.
You enter Hunt and Gather on a whimsy as we did, and you set yourself up to be overwhelmed by the variety. Yet in the midst of the noise of the clutter and sprawl of items, there is a fascinating aire of expectancy. Looking from wall to floor to table to cabinet, you’re unaware of what will catch your eye, but you know very well it will be something that reaches into your psyche and tickles a memory or a fantasy. Or both.
I know for sure I’ll return to H&G. And, I’m certain what I’ll encounter will be familiarly unfamiliar as each it I saw today will yield it’s front and center to another nearby. With a sense of what occupies the space, I’ll plan ahead next time. I’ll craft a vision of a shadow box, wall hanging, or room decor anchor display, knowing I can find the pieces to make the vision come alive.
schlegsofminne 