When the fur baby dies

IF YOU THINK Second String Music is just a music store, well ....

The other day a woman came in and bought a soda. She started talking to Sheryl about cats after seeing Fast Eddie on the counter.

"I lost my cat in early March. I had her for 12 years. I cry every day because she was my baby," the woman said.

Losing a family pet is a tough thing, and the woman was obviously still in mourning. She talked it out with Sheryl and felt better when she left. She usually buys three or four sugary sodas, but all we stock now is the diet drinks. "My doctor told me I shouldn't drink the regular ones anyway. Too much sugar," the woman said. She bought a diet soda, and she was happy.

There's a woman in town who often waits for us to open. Lately she's been bringing Fast Eddie and Angus treats. This gal said, "My electric bill went down so I can afford to buy Eddie more treats." Geesh .... we have so much, and it's a good lesson to be grateful.

Lucky lovin' on Eddie.

Another woman came in with her husband, who just started guitar. She used to work for Hollister-Whitney, which built our elevator in 1918. She was thrilled when I showed it to her. Maybe she'll get somebody at her old office to show some interest in a vintage birdcage elevator.

Of course we are still rocking with music stuff in here, though we still get people asking for record needles, Christian contemporary CDs, hammer dulcimers, Euphoniums, baritones, penny whistles, dobros, RCA plugs without the cable, sheet music and "left-handed pan flutes," whatever they are.

There are rhythms and flows to a small retail business. Often it will be quiet for an hour or so. Then our roofer shows up, two people come in looking for guitars and another person is searching for an obscure cable. Often I duck out to get lunch and come back to find all kinds of happy mayhem in the store and Sheryl frazzled from the chaos.

Then there's Electric Fountain Brewing, now connected to Second String Music with a door by the old bank vault. I see people in there conducting business on laptops, meeting with clients, laughing it up with friends and enjoying the way cool vibe.

It's always an adventure at Fifth and Maine.