#100 Things in 20 Minutes

I heard about this challenge ages ago through Judey Kalchik's post below.

And I did attempt it a several months back (ten, according to my Vocal drafts) where I used animals as a main topic constraint. I think the sole not-entirely-scrap-worthy "thing" that came from that exercise was the following: "Beware the scorpions of North Georgia. They will invade your bathroom with little translucent babies on their backs."

I still get a little kick out of it. It's silly, but true. And they chose my bathroom to invade.

But this time, I'm not constraining myself to animal "things." Lately, I've been thinking about the past and changes to the town where I live (and for this challenge, I'm granting myself leeway to include some "things" about the larger town where I work). In Judey's post, she suggests that this challenge can "perhaps shake loose a few topics for future writing," and I think I would like to expand on some of these memories and recollections my brain keeps revisiting eventually.

Several months have gone by in between writing the first fourteen and a half “things,” and, because I can’t remember if these took the whole twenty minutes or not, I’m just going to put twenty more minutes on my timer and see how far I get. I’ve exceeded the challenge’s time limit, but I’m enjoying the memories.

1. There used to be a little grocery store that had a fountain where they kept goldfish.
2. This was a long time ago, probably over twenty years ago, and they had those fish until a prank with dish soap or laundry detergent being put in the water killed them.
3. Lots of restaurants, family-owned ones, have come and gone.
4. Wallace's was a barbecue place actually pretty close to where I remember the fish-fountain grocery store being.
5. Of course, I could be wrong. I definitely wasn’t driving at that time, and I think my sense of direction has improved since.
6. They had a special on wings on Wednesday nights my cousins enjoyed.
7. But another restaurant I really miss was called Polar Cub.
8. It was really small and i think the building would flood frequently.
9. It was close to a creek that always rises pretty high with lots of rain.
10. They had some of the best pulled pork sandwiches I think I have ever eaten.
11. That could be the nostalga talking, but it was some good stuff.
12. They also had chili cheese fries. Not my favorite, because they'd just put square slices of American cheese on it rather than shredded, but still good.
13. They also did an upside-down banana split milkshake.
14. I think Mawmaw and I got that only once (maybe twice) together.
15. One day, when my parents and family friends were helping build our house, we ate food from Polar Cub together.
16. This day might have been the first time I was ever stung by a bee—I stepped on it.
17. My town has a Wendy’s.
18. It is the second Wendy’s we’ve had during my lifetime to my knowledge.
19. The first one was in the main part of town.
20. The new one is close to the Walmart going out of town.
21. We also have tried to keep a Sonic at least two times.
22. It hasn’t worked.
23. But, we can easily support two McDonald’s.
24. And now we have a Jack’s!
25. We lost our KFC, though.
26. I miss the mashed potatoes and gravy.
27. A bear was once spotted in a tree close to the back of the KFC.
28. This was not the rural part of my town.
29. There is a old once-Del Taco next to the McDonald’s in the main part of town.
30. It’s been closed for the majority, if not all, of my lifetime.
31. The bushes around the building seem to be maintained, though no other business has moved in.
32. There was a dollar store called Dollar Zone I think that my Uncle called Dollar-and-a-quarter Zone if I’m remembering correctly.
33. We had a candy store.
34. The best candy store. It was called Sweet Tooth and was close to my elementary school.
35. My favorite slushy drink wasn’t even on the menu, but the sweet lady who worked there always made it for me when I ordered it.
36. The city where I work has had even more changes.
37. It’s a good deal bigger than my town.
38. It had a Johnny Carino’s for a while.
39. That spot is now occupied by a Steak’n’Shake.
40. And what a good Steak’n’Shake it is.
41. But I miss the Johnny Carino’s. My family and I loved going there and enjoying dipping the table bread into seasoned olive oil.
42. The closest one we know of now is in another state.
43. The mall has probably had some of the most changes.
44. It used to have a carousel. I enjoyed it as a child, especially since I adored horses and the carousel had very pretty ones.
45. I think I might still have a token for it somewhere.
46. There used to be a Sears. (I ran out of time here and started again for number 47).
47. That part of the mall is now a Dunham’s, I think.
48. I’m not very sporty, so I’m not on that side of the mall often.
49. There also used to be a JCPenney.
50. The main department store now is Belk.
51. It’s predecessor was Profits.
52. My grandmother greatly preferred Profits.
53. But she shopped at Belk pretty often, especially for her perfume.
54. Lots of times, she’d get a free gift (often a full makeup set) with her perfume purchase and give the gift to me.
55. When I was little, my mom, my cousins, and I would all go shopping together at the mall.
56. I haven’t been inside the mall for months.
57. If not more than a year.
58. I think there also used to be a Chico’s in a strip mall in this city.
59. It disappeared.
60. (I think it turned into an expanded Hibbetts.)
61. I wonder if this city has two Hibbets?
62. There used to be one in the mall.
63. Ah, Pier One.
64. The strip mall had one for ages.
65. Now, that shop is either an Ulta or a Bath and Body Works.
66. The Bath and Body Works used to be in the mall.
67. That was one of the main stores my mom, aunt, and I would go to for Black Friday.
68. They always had fantastic deals with cute bags.
69. Oh, frozen yogurt!
70. There was a frozen yogurt place in a plaza a few blocks away from the strip mall.
71. My dad and I would go grab yogurt together when we went to Rome.
72. We’d always try to get four flavors each. The white chocolate mousse was amazing.
73. My town also tried to have a frozen yogurt place.
74. It didn’t work out.
75. Though their dulce de leche flavor was phenomenal.
76. Back in the city, there is an Olive Garden.
77. My family and I were so pleased when it opened.
78. We used to go to Applebees before it opened.
79. We haven’t been there together in years.
80. The city also had a Fuddruckers.
81. It was in a great location just a short drive away from a (time again, starting again) minor league baseball stadium.
82. It’s still a restaurant, just a Pick O Deli now.
83. I don’t remember ever going into the Fuddruckers.
84. Now there is a Varsity in the city.
85. The original is in Atlanta near the Fox Theatre, I think.
86. In front of the stadium, however, is one of my favorite cafes.
87. It has a great breakfast sandwich with avocado and pickled onions and a fried egg.
88. I introduced my mom and aunt to it one Black Friday.
89. I was introduced to the cafe when I was in college by a classmate.
90. I’m thinking about JCPenney again.
91. My grandmother bought a lot of my childhood gifts from it.
92. I loved Breyer horses, and she’d get me the holiday ones sold there.
93. She got very upset when they stopped selling them.
94. Nearby to the mall was a Toys R Us.
95. I’m very surprised it closed.
96. Now it’s just a empty building.
97. I don’t know why no other business has gone into it.
98. So many of the places I went to as a child have changed.
99. It’s kind of strange to think of the ones that have stayed in the same spot.
100. Like the Talbots that I went into for the first time in my memory only a few months ago.

Finished, with time to spare, haha! At least from this twenty-minute timer. I’ve used that extra time to fix some typos.

This was fun to finish. Now I want to try to actually write 100 things in twenty minutes!