Jack Metzger is almost a Faulkner character, it is hard to imagine him anywhere else but in our small town. He is the King of Main Street, his Outback Antiques store is a landmark and a magnet, he is a genius at finding the artifacts of the past and giving them stories and life. He also turns them into art.

Jack is a story-teller, he gets in his car and rides the back roads of the country looking for beautiful and evocative things. He knows the story of everything and love to tell it, and he loves life. Today, he was waxing eloquent about some milkweeds that grow through the boards in his porch and the gourds he has growing up a post.

Jack is a passionate and intuitive believer in community, he has kept an eye on his neighbor George Forss for decades. On weekends Jack and George watch golf together on George’s giant big screen TV, which transmits all of the games in red. Jack loves to play golf, George never has and never will.

Once in awhile I haggle with Jack about a price, but only rarely. You cannot outfox him.

Jack always has a twinkle in his eye, and he is a devastatingly shrewd salesman. If you go in there, you will come out with something. And it will be nice, and you will love it. Every book I’ve written up here has been written on an old farm table that Jack found for me, all of my inspiring statuary and the statue on our back lawn also came from him.

Jack is also a gifted and increasingly popular artist.

He’s in my portrait show, of course. He is the King of Main Street.

I love taking his photo, here he was extolling the virtue of his gourds. I told him he needs to change the front porch, I’ve already got a photo of the ducks up on the blog.