Little Towns and Small Cities

When I say we are out in the country I am not exaggerating.  There's a little town about 10 miles from here that has a small hardware store, a local owned grocery and a convenience store.  That's about it from what I have seen so far.  The grocery store reminds me of the family owned ones we used to shop in when I was a kid.  We were in there the other day just checking out what all they carried.  That was the first time I noticed that people seem to move at a slower pace here.  No one seemed to be in a hurry.  There were two little old ladies chatting in front of the meat section who were so involved in conversation they didn't realize that they were blocking the aisle. It was kind of like walking into a movie set from the 60's. 

  Over at the convenience store, while waiting in line, I learned that there is a Pie Lady in town.  She was taking orders for fried pies that she would make on Monday morning and deliver Monday afternoon.  Once again no one was in a hurry.  It took me almost 10 minutes to get checked out but now I know there is a Pie Lady!

There is a bigger town about a half hour away that has most of the things that you can't get in the little one.  They even have a ChinaMart Superstore.  It's probably half the size of the one I used to shop at.  While I was in there checking things out last week I struck up a conversation with a lady.  She was fussing about the prices and looking for bargains.  She lives way out in the country too.  She also told me that about once a month she goes to the big town of Paris, Tx to do her bulk shopping. Paris is about an hours drive from here. Apparently the ChinaMart there has much better prices and they don't have a food sales tax.  I had never thought about that before.  Being from Texas I have never paid sales tax on food.  I didn't even realize that other states did!  Sorry guys! 
Folks around here tend to do their shopping once or twice a month.
Just running out to the store isn't an option for us anymore.

And you know what?  That is just fine with me!