One of the first questions we asked the seller when we moved up here was "where do you shop?!" We'd presumed that she headed west (towards civilization as we'd known it)... Instead, she looked at us in amazement and mentioned the small "county seat." Back then Food Lion and Giant hadn't arrived, and Safeway was old and simple. My usual grocery became a small farm co-op. The selection was limited - no "fake" (pastuerized) eggs, turkey bacon or omega -3 spreads! I fell in love anyway. With a newborn and a house under (constant) construction, the short aisles, local foods and, most importantly, friendly farm faces all made it fun and easy. Sadly, it got pushed out as they "improved" that strip with a FoodLion... Now I drive further to a big health food co-op. At least the drive still makes me hum.
The farmer has another hat as a builder- contractor. In his heart he's a farmer but, until the recession anyway, building paid the bills. Actually, the recession allowed the Farmer to follow his dream and farm lots more. Thankfully, his business seems to be slowly picking up. Too late tho - he's already in love with his new (OLD) combine and dreams about hay, corn and soybeans. He's always said that if his commute to his building jobs in suburbia gets too short , we'll have to move. We don't want Starbucks and suburbia too close. Seven -Eleven coffee is plenty fancy and we like seeing the old man from town drive up & park on his John Deere lawn tractor with his poodle watching guard from the seat!
Here're some pics of my drive to take the kiddies to their schools. It's especially beautiful this time of year...