Jonathan jumped on the Comm, the community bus, to meet the Professor. Molly had told him they called him the Professor as a sign of endearment and, in fact, he had no formal education to speak of. He’d had a severe learning disability as a child and had never been able to figure out much when it came to reading or writing. He’d failed miserably at any academic studies, but in his early twenties, had discovered software that would read the text on a computer screen to him.
His problems had actually been a huge advantage, as they’d forced him to remember information in a way that “readers” never had to. He studied money and its history. He found technology to transcribe his spoken word and had published many books. He had been among the first to alert the world to how the financial world, politics and large corporations worked against the interests of the general public and against the environment. Jonathan was looking forward to hearing what he could learn from him.
The Bamboozle Bar was in a small passageway off the main square. Sunday was a big market day, and it buzzed with traders and customers, artists and performers. It was a perfect blend of the traditional and the modern. Marketplaces had been a part of human society for millennia, and even more so now with the resurgence of small, independent businesses.
There was an area called “The Open Emporium” that was available to anyone to exhibit or sell their wares. For a small charge you could explain the products to the staff and leave them there. This allowed anyone to take part in the market without being there all day or committing to a full-time stall. It was started by Sean’s Academy to encourage new and innovative ideas and was a huge success. All sorts of people used the market to demonstrate their innovations, display their artwork and, of course, sell their products. The Open Emporium was full of wonderful ideas and inventions. The demonstrators and sales staff were mostly students from the Academy, but there were many others who loved being a part of the buzzy market.
It was here that Jonathan had sold the first of the portable, auto-stir cook pots that he’d originally made for Belle’s snack foods. A small manufacturer had bought his design and they were now in the shops and selling well.
He was early, so he spent a while wandering through the stalls. He stopped at one that sold hand-crafted wooden homewares and saw a large bowl made of a wood he recognized immediately. This wood was from a tree that had been protected for years. His grandfather had taught him how to recognize types of wood and had given him a small piece of reclaimed Big Leaf Mahogany for the ‘fingers’ of his mechanical guitar player. They had laughed about how to recognize Big Leaf Mahogany without its leaves. But he knew how precious the timber was and had worked with it lovingly. He knew instinctively this bowl was that same wood; but it was far too large to have been made from reclaimed wood.
The sales girl said they were made from stained commercial pine, but Jonathan knew it was impossible. Nothing could give pine such a beautiful reddish-brown luster. He took the details of the artisan and promised himself he would look into it later.