We don’t have cable, but we do have instant netflix and when I saw that we could watch American Pickers online I got all kinds of excited. The show is about these guys that go all over the country, looking for old junk that they can make a buck on.

J and I LOVE this show. It’s on the history channel because all of the antiques that they find have a history of their own, and as they say in the intro, the people they meet are a breed all their own.
That’s one thing I love about the show is that they can just make a random stop on the side of the road and meet the most fascinating people. It reminds me of segment called Everybody Has a Story with CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman. Steve would throw a dart at a map and look up random subjects in the phone book of that town to do a news story on whoever answered the phone. A couple clicks on youtube about some of the stories he did just left me in tears. Like this one or this one.
What I love about these shows is also what I love about my job, I have the opportunity to meet and photograph all kinds of people from around the community and hear a little bit of their stories (or read about them when the magazine comes out).
I already shared a couple stories that were featured in this months issue, and here is one other that really intrigued me.
Don is retired, but makes knifes as a hobby.

I love the facts that uses all sorts of materials, from elk antlers to yard sale scraps, to make his knives out of. He has made 154 knives. If it were me I probably would have lost count, but not this guy, he has each knife documented in little notebooks that he doodles and makes notes on.

Eventually Don started keeping a photo album with pictures of each knife along with notes of their own.

Most of the knives he gives as gifts or donations, although some people insist on paying him, which after seeing these treasures I am sure they are worth every penny and then some.
Don and I didn’t have a ton in common although he could have talked my ear off all day and his wife warned me of that. I really connected with the scribbles and doodles he had in his notepads. They reminded me of the drawings I do when I pack for a trip or the notes that I jot down all day long, but his stuff was more organized and kept together in one place. I am reminded that everyone does have their own unique story, but in some ways we are all part of the same story.