Johnny’s of Carrboro And The Town Of Asheville North Carolina Are Bloggers Paradises Where Remarkable Skills Abound

Our little coffee shop, Johnny’s, in Carrboro, North Carolina, USA, is teaching us new skills, including the making of good coffee, basic business training, and sticking up for ourselves in the Mill of Small Town Politics. It’s fascinating!

Hi folks,

I have to confess that I really enjoy writing these blog posts. It is almost as if I write them for myself. They make me think. I find that as I go about my day I am on the lookout for ‘bloggable’ images or videos, for which my iPhone has been perfect. I rethink what I think I know, and learn to correct my ‘world map’ as I go along. What could be better? The real trick is not to give up but like Robert the Bruce (who saw a spider persisting with a difficult web) you should try, try and try again, whatever the odds, as long as you are on the correct path for your happiness.

The Silver Drummer Girl in Asheville, NC, USA. Photo by FitOldDog

Recently, we spent some time in Asheville, North Carolina, and, like Johnny’s, it turned out to be a great place for the accumulation of blogging material. There was so much talent there. For instance, the Silver Drummer Girl, a mime who has the most remarkable act. Whilst she was frozen, I asked her if I could prepare a video of her for my blog, and her reply came as a subtle wink, so I did. Later we had a conversation, and she explained that it took her many years to perfect the difficult skill of immobility. I was impressed. Furthermore, it turned out that her Mom died of an aortic aneurysm, would you believe it? Maybe that conversation, which I really appreciated, was meant to happen, or maybe aortic aneurysms are much more common than people realize. I must remember to suggest that she have a scan for this condition, which isn’t fatal unless you fail to find it soon enough (I was one of the lucky ones). I was sorry to hear about this interesting lady’s mom, but at least she should protect herself from this risk with a scan, as my sons have done. If ever you’re in Asheville stop by her act, it’s remarkable.

On I went, and then I noticed a juggler across the street, who as it turned out was also happy to be featured on this blog. Watch this guy, Kyle Brown, juggling sharp knives. It’s remarkable what humans can do when they try.

And what has all of this to do with safe exercise for better health? It relates to the issue of skill, which takes a lifetime to perfect, and what better role models for your training than these wonderful street entertainers – I wish they could come to Johnny’s and give us a show.

Towards the end of the day we wandered into a chocolate shop, Chocolate Gems. I rarely go into such places as I don’t really have much of a sweet tooth, but then I thought of my favorite, Marzipan. One of the owners, Andrew Chisholm, informed me that he only sold the very best marzipan, and he even agreed to talk about it for my blog – here he is:

Rewarding yourself, with delights such as marzipan, for a job well done is important for your training. Such rewards, when well earned, create a kind of punctuation to your exercise program, holding the whole thing together and keeping you on track.

-k @FitOldDog