Returning to Small Town Life

So Geneseo is about twice the size of Gibson City, where I grew up, but it is still definitely small town living. I grew up near a small town, so the concept isn't completely foreign, but it has been a bit of a refreshing change. Here are a few examples of small town life.

Last week after we got both my kitchen stuff and Eric's kitchen stuff unpacked we did a little grocery shopping at Fareway in Geneseo... granted it doesn't have all the offerings of Schnucks or Meijer but the full service meat counter was awesome and well priced. They cut/package anything you want the way you want it, and they are ridiculously friendly. Oh, and the bag boy definitely carried carried/carted our groceries out to our car! Oh, and they had a very good beer selection too.

Tonight we went to Hillsdale, about a 10 minute drive to get our hair cuts. Eric's family friend, Beth, operates "The Hair Station" there. Good news... my hair looks pretty good... and it cost us $12 each!!

After our haircuts we went to the Parkway Restaurant in Geneseo... your basic diner/coffee shop kind of place. Our young waitress actually said to us as she brought our menus... "I am not sure I would order the beef/chicken stir fry special... they have been burning it all night. The cooks came into work drunk tonight and have been the death of me. Not to worry though the owner is running the grill now so you are good." Not sure how much of this was true and how much was teen exaggeration, but still made for some good entertainment either way. When we were paying the owner was running Eric's debit card and asked us if we were new in town, when we said yes and explained our situation she promptly gave us a $10 gift certificate and told us welcome to town, and to please come back. I am guessing she was originally from somewhere in the former Yugoslavia... and she was super sweet. The food was pretty good and the price was right so I am sure they will see us often.

Oh, and another one of my small town favorites. Our house is not in Geneseo proper, so our electric is from Farmers Mutual Electric a local co-op. I enjoy how co-ops save money. We got our "self-billing" supplies in the mail the other day. Every month we have to go around to the side of the house and read our meter. We compare it to the previous month's reading, figure our usage and then use the chart they enclosed to figure our bill. If we pay by the 10th of the month we pay the discounted price... if we pay after the 10th we pay the full price. So yesterday before I went to town I trudged out in the snow and read the meter. I am sure they take actual readings every so often themselves to make sure you are cheating, but overall not a bad system.

Last week one afternoon I met two of the neighborhood girls. The door bell rant at about 4 pm. It was Mia from the big brown house across the street from our side yard, and Abby from the house on the corner. They were probably 4th or 5th grade and just wanted to say "hi" and welcome me/us to the neighborhood. The were really sweet and I told them I appreciated their kindness and that hopefully when the weather warmed up we would see them out and about the neighborhood, but that if we got another big snow they were welcome to sled down our hill as long as they rang the bell and let us know they were back there. I am excited to get out and meet more of the neighborhood folks when it warms up.