Greetings all!
WOW! As I scribe these words, I am wearing a sweater because it is a tad, bit, chilly outside. I love this weather!
Some random thoughts...if I may?
Last Thursday I went to the small grocery store down the road in our small little town. I rode my bike since the day was so gorgeous. I get there and as I am walking up to the sliding door, I see a homemade sign scotch-taped crookedly to the glass. "Stephen's will be closed tomorrow at 6pm for Homecoming."
I smile. As I walk pass the produce and check out counter, Emily nods her head at me as if she is being forced to. She is the clerk whose line I go through all the time. She is a young girl that hates being there...hates being anywhere, it seems. She's not very happy.
I grab my couple of items and put them in my pink re-usable bag and find that Emily's line is empty. "Lucky her," I think to myself.
"Hey Emily!"
She nods.
"You gonna go to the football game tomorrow?"
Because she isn't happy, she equally does not welcome shallow banter. "I guess everyone in this place is."
"Ya! Store is closing down for it! Pretty big deal, huh?"
"Uuumm. Need anything else?"
"Nope! That's it!"
I smile. "See you later! Have a good one!"
"You too," she says in her cheerful way....
I put my stuff in the little basket on my bike and take a deep breathe. WOW! This place is amazing...all I have ever dreamed of...and here I am. Me. In small town America.
I peddle my way through the parking lot and make my first right turn. As I go around, I see a lady standing on her porch arranging pumpkins. She has the most amazing wrap around porch and two little living rooms situated on each end. The porch is the the crown for the emaculate yard she and her husband keep. She stops here arranging, looks up at me, smiles and waves. CHING-CHING! I ring the little bell on my bike. (Yes! I have a bell on my bike..shut it!)
I peddle on. I hear a little girl in the distance. "Poppa, are we gonna make chicken or steak? Is it going to be the yucky sauce or the one I like? I don't like chicken...but maybe...."
I smile and without hearing another word she says, I listen. Her dad cleans the grill, she bounces the basketball that is half her size. Her little shoes paddle across the rocky driveway that leads up to their small cottage. The screen door slams on the frame as her older brother comes charging out.
As I pass, they look up. They wave. CHING-CHING! "Poppa, she has a bell! I want one." Her father smiles and giggles as I pass.
As I cross the railroad tracks, the old man that lives on the corner is sitting in his back yard as he customarily does every evening. He has 4 canoes neatly placed in his back yard and although I have never seen him take any of them to the lake, he sure does keep them in order. In the Spring he sits out on his front porch ready to serve any of his customers. You see, he raises rabbits. He sits them out in cages where his grass meets the road and open for business every Sunday. Between you and me, I think Sammy bounced into our lives from his house...but I'll never tell! *wink*
I carefully manuever over the tracks as not to have my purchases bounce out of my basket. As I get closer to the end of the road, again, I take a deep breathe. "The grocery store closes for the high school Homecoming". That is awesome! I love small town life. I always have. And now here I am....I am grateful. So content. So....just so....
Anyway....Fall is here and it makes it all even better! I am getting all my Harvest stuff up, so as soon as I get it all done, I will send some pics.
Hope you all are having a great one...I know I am!
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