The Popcorn Wagon

After restoration

Would you like to have some popcorn?

Fresh!

Hot!

Melt-in-your-mouth-with-butter-good.

Living on a creative path can take me in so many directions. Like when my significant other comes in and says, “Look what I found! We didn’t have one,” I know by now I’m going to be in for something special. That’s one of the things I enjoy about him—-his finding of the most unusual and creative distractions.

Before restoration

The Wagon was a sad looking little thing when it first came to us. Rust here. Rust there. Actually, rust was everywhere. You could see the ground through the floor when you looked inside. You could see light from the sky when you looked up, too. Dirt and dust and more rust.

I sighed. “Tell me about it,” I said.

And his story began, about the guy who had previously owned the wagon, who said it had come from an amusement park back in the early nineteen-seventies. About how it had been in storage and how most of the parts came along with it. He thought. And wouldn’t it be great to “fix it up” and put a real popcorn machine inside? Wouldn’t that be fun for Movie Night? Well, yes, I thought so too. The restorations began.

One of the things I’ve appreciated a lot about this project has been the joy in research for my writings/drawings. I actually LIKE looking for clues and trying to see where they might lead. I don’t know who the people were who carved their initials on the inside of the drawers in the wagon, but I appreciate the fact they left a few coins in there which were dated in the late sixties. I appreciate the help we’ve received from people who thought it might be a this-or-that and who gave us a website or contact name for information. I am grateful for people who actually answered the questions we didn’t know how to formulate because we didn’t know what we were looking for in the first place. And I will TREASURE the information, when I get through it, from the person who pointed me in the direction of an entire 220 plus paged catalog of photographs of a particular popcorn company. When I get a confirmation from a certified source, I can tell you what they’ve said.

I know, I know. You might be thinking, the girl has gone too far down the path. She does too much STUFF. Are you asking yourself, “Does a Popcorn Wagon have anything to do with Creative Living? Writing? Drawing? Alpacas? Spinning or Weaving?”
I’d like to share a quotation, if that’s all right with you:

“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.” ― Vincent van Gogh

When we show a movie on the side of the Big Barn on a starry night, we will have the MOST amazing popcorn to go along with it. What a wonderful finish to a creatively busy day.

Are you doing what you love?

Well done!