The plan was to make a quick stop at The Sock Peddlers to get yarn to knit bunny slippers for the grandkids for Easter.  You know, pop in, grab some Cascade 220, and go.  But when we rounded the corner this is what we saw:

The parking lot was gone!  And in its place was a sea of whatever they use to make parking lots out of.  Raw asphalt crap or whatever.  And big yellow construction vehicles and guys in hard hats — all between me and my yarn!  We drove around to the west side of the building and found an encouraging sign (literally, it was a sign — and I was encouraged)

The Sock Peddlers banner with a hand-written “Open” and helpful arrow.  So, I told George to wait in the car and I optimistically tromped toward the gap in the cyclone fencing.  But as I peered around the corner of the building, I saw that the sea of nasty raw asphalt crap went all the way to the foundations.  No sidewalk.  I went back to the car, told George, and stared at him resolutely until he got out of the car, walked over to the cyclone fencing, and hailed one of the guys in the hard hats.  They talked for awhile and the guy pointed this way and that way.  George came back to the car with a plan.

So off we drove — back to the other side of the pseudo parking lot (it was either no longer or not yet a parking lot) and stared at the building again — from where we had started.

Uh, no.  There was no way to get across (the vehicles that are understandably still in the photo were charging back and forth across the sea of crap).  Back to the south side of the building.  I saw a bit of sidewalk and tried that — but it ended half a block before the store entrance.  Like, I would have had to Spider-Man my way across the the front of that clock tower section to get to The Sock Peddlers.  So, back to the car.

But undeterred (or just very stubborn), I reasoned that if I could not go around the building either from side perhaps I could go through the building.  Not like Marley in “A Christmas Carol” but through a break or alleyway of some sort.  So, I told George to stay in the car (like he had any intention of hopping out to join me in my mad quest — or as if it would do him any good to try and stop me) and I marched along until I found the predicted break or alleyway.  

At first glance, it looked like just a little courtyard to a defunct restaurant (this is a somewhat deserted older building — only about half-filled with shops and offices that don’t have much traffic).  But I turned the corner and followed the alley which opened into a sort of back courtyard — deserted except for a couple of parked delivery trucks — which led to other alleys (it was all kinda creepy and Oliver Twist-ish).  One alley led to an archway and through that archway I saw construction vehicles!   And to my right was The Sock Peddlers side window!  I felt like Magellan discovering the Northwest Passage (I am aware that Magellan did not discover the Northwest Passage, but that is what I felt like….)

A guy in a hard hat driving one of those huge roller things pointed to the left and to the right (not unlike the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz) and asked if I was attempting to get to one of the businesses.  I said yes and pointed to the Sock Peddlers window (there was a lot of construction revving and roaring going on — hence all the pointing).  He climbed off the roller thing and beckoned me forward, scooted some equipment with hoses and cords on it out of the way, gave me the “go ahead nod.”  I walked gingerly across about four feet of the crap and slipped triumphantly through the Sock Peddlers door!

After calling George to say I had arrived (he sounded neither as surprised or as impressed as I could have hoped), I quickly selected my bunny slipper yarn — since the roller thing guy was back at work and the whole building was shaking violently — exchanged a few pleasantries with the shop owner as he rang me up, and scooted out the door. 

Back over the four feet of crap, through the creepy Dickensian alleyway, down the deserted sidewalk, and into the car (where George was patiently playing Bejeweled on his phone).

Mission accomplished!