Small Town Life

I shoveled the deck because the snow didn’t seem to want to go anywhere. Which is a first for me but I began to worry that the foot of snow sitting on it is probably not good for the wood. So I shoveled. And while I shoveled, the birds greeted me from above. Although after awhile I began to worry that they were actually yelling at me because the previous owner kept them well fed. I need to brush up on my birdspeak. So I scrounged for something to feed them and came up with oats. I scattered some along the deck rails. Not only have they not eaten the oats, they’ve stopped singing as well. So I believe I might have offended the birds. I’ll have to remedy this so they don’t poop bomb my sun room or something.

 

We also have our first mouse. At least I’m assuming it’s a mouse. It skitters in the ceilings and drives my cat nuts. The other cat could care less. But we are pretty sure she identifies herself as something other than a cat. Maybe a hamster. Cellar traps remain unsprung though. I tried to have a heart to heart with it and let it know if it stays in the ceilings and practices rodent abstinence, we can live together in peace. We shall see how that goes.

 

Although my mop, microwave, and toaster finally made an appearance and we are now eating ALL the popcorn and pop tarts, we are still waiting on our washer and dryer. They are set to arrive Thursday and we are hoping the storm doesn’t cause a hold up or they take a look at all the one way bridges they have to cross to get here and run screaming. In the meantime, since none of us want to be around eachother is super dirty clothes, I asked myself WWLIWD (what would Laura Ingalls wilder do) if she were supposed to be quarantining during a pandemic and had no way to wash her clothes? And the answer was obviously to hand wash the clothes. Tyler thought I should do it properly, in the brook. But because the brook is like -0 degrees and because this is actually the 21st century, and I have technology where LIW didn’t, I dove into the googles to figure out how to do it properly in my sink. I’m beginning to feel like I should really invest in a target prairie dress though for moments just like this. But there’s no target within like 50 miles of me so If anyone wants to send me one…

 

I had to take a trip to the general store because my kids are going through water like camels with a hole in their hump and I fell instantly in love with everything about the town. Around here, for full grocery shopping, you have to drive 20-30 minutes away. But towns have general stores for quick trips for when you run out of milk or are in an “I have no ice cream in my freezer” emergency. The general store is a quaint little market like 3 aisles wide, packed with all the necessities you might need. It reminds me of the little corner store we used to run to late at night back in my Seattle Art Institute days, but like a million times cuter and no homeless people sitting outside. It has about what you’d find in the grocery section of a regular target (not a super target). It sits by the town square which looks like something out of a hallmark Christmas movie with gazebos and a small ice pond with kids playing hockey on it. I can’t wait to someday grab treats from the nearby coffee shop and sit in the square, enjoying the small town bustlings. I am constantly pinching myself that places like this exist in these modern days of strip malls and cookie cutter buildings and that I live here.