In the illusion of choice I choose YOGA.
All the brides end up bewildered at yoga, anyway.
And somewhere between BRIDE and YOGA: Mysteries. Thinking, dreaming, a walk before dark with a friend.
I’m always looking for the liminal and a friend.
Across the street, diagonal from BRIDE and YOGA, is Sally and her husband Andrew’s brewery, Leveller. Leveller is a dreamed-of place: small and mellow Appalachian hygge. You are explicitly welcomed to bring your own food, dog, children, beer curiosity, sobriety, and/or affection for sheep — “Leveller” takes its name from the radical agrarian movement of 17th century England that pushed to give the land back to all. I am obscenely early for the music. LEVELLER will be my Main Street portal to the Mysteries tonight.
I keep thinking about ports and portals in Barbie — and, specifically, Weird Barbie’s house with its maps and charts and endless knowledge-seeking. It’s also the site of the most perfect line in the film where Weird (aka Middle-Aged!) Barbie forecasts the ripening perimenopausal situation for Margot Robbie: “You’re gonna start getting sad and mushy and [MCKINNON WIDENS HER EYES] complicated.”
It’s as much about the line as it is about the wild-eyed oracular delight of Kate McKinnon’s delivery. Warning and invitation.
The woman reflected in the image above is a two-time bride and multi-time yoga adopter still seeking the Mysteries. Tonight she will listen to Sally sing “The Center.” A portal all its own. And then her son will text that his unfinished homework is in the back of her car, can she bring it, yep, when the song is over, she will.
Listen to Sally Anne Morgan sing “The Center.”
When in Weaverville, North Carolina: Leveller.
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