Shelton Powe, Ironing Board Sam and David Bryant

 We arrived at David Bryant’s house just before sunset and he was sitting on his porch waiting for us. “Yes, mm hmm,” he said, and waved a greeting. We were picking up David on the way to the Juke Joint festival, along with Ironing Board Sam and our intern MaryAnne.

David’s little dog danced around me as we helped him bring his things to the car; then we got together for a photo in the beautifully raked garden. David insisted that we go inside to see just a few pictures of his grandfather. He wanted to show Ironing Board Sam who he was. Once inside David pulled some buttons from his pocket. Two sets tied together with string. This really got the conversation going.

“These are real pearls, very old-” David began.
“You got something worth some money, hold on to those,” Sam interrupted.
“- they tied together with string real tight, it took me a while to pull them apart. Whoever had these before knew they had something really special,” David continued, without stopping.

All four of us looked down into David’s big puffy hands at the small string of delicate buttons, which reminded me of buttons I’d see on a sweater my grandmother wore.

After packing up the van with David’s gear, we headed down to One One Coco to get some dinner, where Sam and David both ordered coffees. From their first sip they were amazed, they both agreed the best coffee they have ever had.
Sam said, “somehow they knew exactly how many cream and sugar to put in, we didn’t even ask, she just knew, that’s some good coffee.” We all passed around the cup, it was definitely good.

After dinner we drove on until we just couldn’t anymore, and wound up at one of many hotels off an exit we chose when we needed to rest. The manager was very friendly, and even though we were all clearly very tired and it was midnight, she proceeded to pull out her atlas and figure out exactly where we were going because she had never heard of Como and she was curious. More about Como, our pre-Juke Joint destination, later.

Ironing Board Sam and David Bryant are definitely soul brothers. They have a deep connection and their mutual love of life and natural wonders get me looking at the world in a whole new light. It’s so exciting.

— Aaron