JENNY ODELL
Thursday evening, at 6:15 p.m., after a Trader Joe Indian meal, I sat opened the window of my apartment that faced the French Broad river and sat at my desk, wondering what to write about on my iPad, when I heard a faint but beautiful voice floating across the river.
The sweet voice came from the yellow umbrella riverfront of Zadie’s restaurant. iPad in hand it drew me down the stairs and across the bridge to Zadie’s, which was almost empty. A young woman and man were singing, plaintive song after plaintive song. I ordered a chicken sandwich and a coke and spent the next hour and a half listening. This was one reason that I came to Marshall, to be a short walk away from the little town that so often offers something enlivening. Finally, when the singing stopped I put a little money in the tip jar and walked home in the last light of day feeling very good.
BILLYBABA’S WANDERING 