Blink Once...

Although the town I live in is not so small as to be a "blink once and you miss it" sort of place, it does retain that small town feel -– until the summer season (already starting) when the TOURISTS/summer people start showing up. While this doesn't exactly taint the charm that small town life has for me - until Labor Day - it definitely changes things.

Okay, I know the tourists make it possible for us to get some amenities up in our (literally) "neck of the woods". But, we do pay with high prices for groceries and gas, and not being able to go into town Friday through Sunday gets to be a drag.

Siiiiiiigh.....Oh well, I can forget about that from September to May, just like I have already forgotten the previous 6 months of snow!


That's the way I like it,uh-huh-uh-huh
Speaking of blinking, (besides the most excellent non-fiction book about first impressions called "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell who once wrote me a thank you note for admiring his books, emailed at 3 am!), there is a tradition on the highway I travel to and from work that involved blinking lights (no gang-initiations up here, so no worries!. And it never hinges on TOURIST SEASON.

This is how it works:
If someone blinks his/her lights at you from the opposite direction, he/she is either warning you of a police car lying in wait for speeders (speed limit 55- I do 64 and people still pass me!) or a deer has run across the road (meaning there are more to follow, since deer usually travel in packs -actually called a "herd" or a "mob" ) or a deer is about to cross the road. By the same token, if you see a cop or a deer situation, it is polite to blink at oncoming traffic to warn them. I must admit that it IS amusing to see: A. People who know what it is all about immediately put on their brake lights and B. People who don't know what it is about pulling over to the side of the road to see if they have a bulb out or are getting a flat tire. Doesn't take much to amuse me, I must admit!

Other things I like about small towns:
(Let's see if I can remember what is unique after 7 years here!)
1. 6 car rush hours
2. Walking on a beautiful trail with my dog and not seeing a soul
3. The lady at the post office who knows my name (and how much I buy on eBay!)
4. Leaving my doors open when I'm gone (I don't ,but I CAN)
5. Plumber,septic service,lawn service:"Oh you don't have to pay now- just send a check whenever"
6. Above and beyond: In 1999, I had to vote absentee on the presidential ballot, so I called the City Clerk to see when I could vote, since I work 30 miles away. She actually said, "Ooohhh,I can wait here until you get off of work." and when I said I may not be there until 6, she said, "Welllll,why don't you come in on Saturday? I can come in then if you want." Having always lived in cities and lived here less than a year, I was shocked,but I will never forget that kindness.
7. Just happened today: I was listening to WXPR, our NPR classic radio station when the host said the engineer, Elmer Getsch, was up "in the tower" and that the radio signal would be a little weaker while he worked on it. "But he'll be down in plenty of time to host his noon show..." the morning host said. Only in the Northwoods.

Up the Country
It's twilight; the loons and the peepers are calling each other;it stormed earlier and the woods and the lake are colored with crayolas from the 64-color box of my childhood. The grass and the trees on the lake are colored that green called "spring green": half yellow,half green. Contrasting that are the crowns of the trees across the lake,which are reflecting the sinking sun and blazing with the colors I would use in autumn coloring book pictures: Burnt Sienna and Indian Red and Goldenrod. The crabapple blossoms are magenta - bursting out of the woods with neon brightness; the lilacs are just beginning to flower with light,well, lilac.

And the scene is gone now - in the blink of an eye, it seems.

Oh, before I forget, it was a Great Egret and not a Snowy Egret I saw the other day dining at my waterfront sashimi restaurant. Bad hair day for that Snowy Egret in the link, by the way!