This is my weekly installment of Small Town Tuesday. If you have a
small-town story (with pictures is even better! ) please send me a
message at vash_ii@yahoo.com or on Facebook.
We're very fortunate in our town of less than 1,000 to have our own grocery store. If we didn't, we'd have to drive a ways to get anything!
Not only that, our grocery store is open every day and is rather known as a gourmet store with unique and specialty products delivered from towns throughout Kansas.
I try to shop there at least once a week and of course it is my last-minute shopping place, even for Christmas presents!
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| Doesn't it look quaint? We often see local residents sitting in these chairs drinking coffee and chatting. |
A lot of times we get a pop and sit in front of the grocery store and see people we know go in and out.
The grocery store owners are really wonderful people. Brady used to be afraid of the guy because of his big mustache (and because he was always chopping meat) but he seems to have gotten over that.
The woman though, he has always loved. She treats him like a little prince in there. See the date below? Brady got a whole box of conversation hearts for free from her if he'd only try a bite of the date which he did. (It was a small bite. I ate the rest).
And lately Brady's sitter has been using fun ideas with him from a book the grocer lady gave her to help work with kids, both as a sitter and also as instructor of a weekly Good News Club and summer Five Day Club.
What a treat for a curious 7-year-old! He loves going to the store. I've never known my grocer in such a close way. It's a blessing.
And lastly, her daughter has gone on an 11-month, 11-country mission around the world to bring Jesus and the Word of God to people in all sorts of impoverished and unimaginable situations. Our town has championed her efforts and raised money through our church and Brady's school, providing cattle and other supplies to a school in Africa as well as helping to fund her mission trip.
Brady seems to know she is doing something special and always asks her mother about her. I love the spider web network of connections in this town.
In this place, even a trip to the grocery store is cause for joy.
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Small town shops have a whole different feel from big cities, don't they? We love to walk to our green grocers and see what is new and have a chat.
ReplyDeleteOh my yes. People aren't in quite so much a hurry. But the other day the computer went down and I was actually in a hurry and they had to call up the owner to come down. Finally they had to do the figuring by hand :) No register down the line to go to.
DeleteHi Steph. There are a lot of great things in a small town. I much prefer small town living to city living. We live within 70 miles of the metro-plex, but it is very quiet where we live.
ReplyDeleteWhen we moved here our house didn't sell in a timely manner so we rented it out. The other day the refrigerator in that house stopped working. The renters called to let me know. The next day, I did a little research and then called an appliance store in Kansas (house is in Perryton). We had purchased a couple of appliances from that store before. When I asked how she wanted to handle the payment, they said, "we will send you an invoice". They delivered the refrigerator 2 days later, and I still haven't seen and paid the invoice. Where else, but in small town America, can you do that. No paper work, no contract, not even a hand-shake. Just a verbal contract over the phone. The renters were very pleased and surprised that we were able to handle it so quickly.
Now there are some drawbacks, LOL, from time to time but overall, I love living here and wouldn't trade it. Oh I know it! They still trust people on their word, it's an amazing thing and gives me hope. Neat you have a tie in little ol' Kansas :)
DeleteI grew up in a little town of not quite 900. We had our own little grocery store for as long as I lived there. It has sadly closed. My grandparents owned the slaughter house and grocery store that had been there before that for over 20 years. My dad has lots of stories to tell about that.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, the same size! That's too bad the store closed. That really has a big impact on a small town. We're so lucky to have a bank, real estate company, thriving hardware and building store, senior center, public library, restaurant, haircut place, American Legion, telephone company, city offices, cookie factory, liquor store (well the luck of that is questionable on a Saturday night, ha!). We're really doing well for our size.
DeleteI love the quaintness of it all ! How cool to have a table in the store for folks to sit and chat over a cup of coffee. You are so lucky. I think it would be a really cool place to live and experience. What a great place to raise children! :)
ReplyDelete~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
I know, it's the most adorable thing to see people sitting in there sipping coffee! I do feel lucky, I really do. When I lived here 20 years ago, I sure didn't! But now I appreciate all it has to offer.
DeleteI will admit that I'm a city girl at heart, but mostly that is a matter of convenience and not of heart nor soul.
ReplyDeleteTruth is, I believe people were meant to be connected this way...the way you are to your town, to your grocery store lady (adorable by the way).
I love a twenty four hour city like Vegas for the ability to live the random life if a right brain thinker (when it's time to write, I may sit down and not get up til three am...even if I was supposed to grab a few groceries); but I envy the beauty of feeling so deeply connected to those around me. I don't even know more than two of the neighbors on my entire street.
Tank you four giving me something amazing to escape to...even if only in thought.
Heather @ Exalted Peacock
It's possible to be connected in a big city but it takes more work and there's not as much security or trust, even in a suburb. And it's also possible to have a sense of community but too many don't with so many people going in different directions and focused on their own immediate situation. There definitely are good points to larger cities. The cultural experiences are amazing! The art and music scene is beautiful. I just don't think I was made for that. I wanted to try it and I did, but found myself missing this :) And I, too, hardly knew any of my neighbors. I'm so glad you enjoy our little stories.
DeleteWhat a wonderful place. It sounds like the kind of town you see in a Hallmark movie - and always dream to live in. You're so lucky! Great write up, and I adore how you list the wonderful things the grocer lady did and show her as the hero she is. She deserves one of Lorelai's super hero capes. (Lorelai commented above.)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Teresa :) It is so unique and beautiful but I do have to admit their are downsides. Gossip and rumors and small-minded ideas, but they are far outweighed by the benefits. It's an art sometimes navigating a small city. LOL, yes that lady should wear a hero cape! She is a champion of children, ALL children even if they are a little different and I just adore her. I thanked her the other day for being so kind to my boy :)
DeleteSounds like such a wonderful place to live, raise children as well as grow old in. While we have our own little piece of heaven with a large yard, it's only a driveway away from the world's drama.. which today i could use a break from. So, if you ever find me in your town, you may find it hard to move me out. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kim. I didn't always believe that. When I was 20 I just was sure it was a trap, but after traveling around and living in the big city, I see the freedom here and the joy. I am so happy to be raising my kiddo here. That's great you have a large yard! At least you can escape there. Big cities do have benefits, I just found for us there was more benefit in this quiet simple life. (We do like to visit the big city though!) It is easy to forget the larger world here sometimes :)
DeleteHow wonderful and a great place to raise a family. We don't live in a huge metropolitan city but it can be overwhelming driving through town and realizing all the people you will never know or just being a number.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tanya, my boy and I love it. Yes! I have felt that, like just one of the masses, everyone moving around in their own world. Some people can bring a sense of community to the big city, but for me it was just too overwhelming. And I really hate traffic, LOL!
DeleteWhat a neat lady! I love that she took time to show God's love to others--she has her priorities right! I will pray for her daughter!
ReplyDeleteThank you for her prayers. I just learned she was 2 hours from all the awfulness that went on in Kenya with Christians being shot. Ugh. How scary. We had 2 missionaries speak at our church today, early 20-somethings. Their mission was in the US and it was interesting to hear what they experienced.
DeleteOh, I've always wanted to live in a small town like that. I thought they only existed in hallmark movies. Which is why I always watch them. What a neat lady to know, she sounds like a really special and sweet woman! I'm jealous!
ReplyDeleteLOL, they really are real! Of course there is some less than hallmarky stuff that goes on, ha! Gossip and fighting and bad behavior, but it is more than made up for by the good things. She is a wonderful person and I try and remember to tell her so :)
DeleteThough I am lived in the cities my whole life, I have to admit the small town life does seem romantic at times. Waving to your neighbors and knowing everyone around does seem to have its own appeal.
ReplyDeleteIt is comforting to know and be known, especially after having been lost and alone in big cities. For us, there is a richness here that is beautiful :) Some people are made for big cities and they do have good points too, but it just was not longer the life for me.
DeleteI love small towns! I grew up in a town of 35,000 and three groceries stores. I thought that was small until I visited my husband's family in the panhandle of Oklahoma and their town had only one corner store and a small diner. His uncle even had P.O. Box #1!! Who gets #1?? Such a quaint life. It always seems peaceful. Thanks for sharing these fun pictures and a little piece of the small town life.
ReplyDeleteWe have PO boxes too! That's what my Small Town Tuesday is about this week. That can have its own challenges! OK panhandle is not too far from us! Life here is peaceful mostly and when it is not, we band together. Thanks for stopping by, Elizabeth :)
DeleteMy town isn't quite as small as yours - we are just around 7,000....but it's still a similar feel. my hubby knows I will not just be "popping by" the grocery store because odds are I will run into someone I know and All The Talking will happen. haha
ReplyDeleteHey, 7,000 is a good smallish size :) We have a nearby town of about 5,000 and I guess it is the "big city" to us. They have 2 grocery stores AND an Alco AND a Dollar General AND fast food! Yippee! But it does still have that small town feel. All the Talking! LOL, that's too funny because I know JUST what you mean. It's no short trip up town EVER.
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