The thrill of the hardware store

I don't know if you have this obsession, and maybe it's not something I should even admit, but one thing I love to do is spend an hour in a hardware store I've never been in before.  Not to buy anything.  Just to look at the amazing range of stuff that's available for people with diverse hardware needs. 

Country hardware stores have the most crave-worthy stuff.  Items like monster-size barn fans or goat bells or jerky-making kits.  I don't even have a livestock barn or a wayward goat and I don't like jerky, but I love thinking about how those hardware items could be used for some alternate purpose.  For example, I've recently discovered that fishing lures make great earrings.  There's something about a pair of plastic minnows hanging from your ear lobes that just screams sophisticated-but-sporty.  More on that in my next newspaper column.

For today, I'm lucky enough to be heading off for a press tour of the new Home Depot concept store in my home town of Richmond Hill, Ontario.  This could be a thrilling event because the store is organized around projects for those daring adventurers of the homeowner set - Do-It-Yourselfers.  I'll keep you posted. 

(more info available from www.hardlines.ca)