Last Thursday, I’m standing at my register down to the A&P, when who do I see in the produce section but James Brown. Not James Brown, the Godfather of Soul. No, I’m talking about James Brown, CPA, Mahoosuc Mills’ best accoutant. Well, since his father retired, he’s our only accountant. James may be sharp with numbers, but grocery shopping, not so much. “There are too many variables,” he told me once. James married a gal he met at Dartmouth, Courtney Van Buren. The two of them worked in Boston until they were ready to start a family, then they decided to settle here in Mahoosuc Mills. Courtney works for a company in Bangor (something to …
Well, we made it through February. For such a short month, it can sometimes pack a punch. Like this year, wasn’t it ever cold and snowy? We’ve gotten off easy the last few years, but this February was kinda like the winters of old. Then, poof! The cold and snow ended and the temperatures got up into the 30’s. Felt almost balmy. We hit 40 one day last week. I saw a gal wearing sandals! Jumping the gun, in my opinion, but whatever floats your boat, right? On my morning walk, the birds are getting frisky, you can tell, singing away. As Charlie shared last week, the woodpeckers are making a racket. Turns out, some …
When my sister Irene and me were kids, we had these little wooden snow scoops with our names painted on them that were made special just for us by our uncle, Octave Pease. They were just like our Dad’s, only a third the size, and we used to help him shovel the driveway. Which means we just got in the way, and made more of a mess for him to clean up! Octave: now there was a character. He come from a big family, I don’t know how many brothers and sisters. Octave never set foot in a school room, but he was smart as a whip. The kind of fella that could do anything …
Charlie and me are pretty much over our Happy New Year colds. Well, me mostly. Charlie still has that pesky cough. It’s the kind of thing that really revs up at night, just when you’re trying to sleep. But we’re both happy to be on the other side of it, starting to have our usual energy back. Remember when a cold lasted about three days, five max? I do. And then you’d snap out of it? Now we’re talking ten days to two weeks. What happened? Have the bugs gotten nastier or is it because we’re old? On top of recovering from this bug, I had myself what I can only call an “old snap” …
Down to the A&P, thing are hopping, as you’d expect. Busy, busy, busy! We’re selling poinsettias and wreaths up the yin-yang. There was one small spot of gloominess on Friday. My co-worker Courtney was all shook up because she’d started getting Christmas cards from some of the customers. She’s in her early twenties, and still in the process of figuring out what she wants to do with her life. “What’s wrong with getting cards from customers?” I ask her. “Don’t take this personal, Ida,” Courtney replies, all mopey-faced, “but I think it means I’ve been working here too long.” “No offense taken, Courtney. But you know, there might be another way of looking at it. …
The holiday spirit is upon us! Mahoosuc Mills is getting ready for the Down Home Holiday Festival next weekend, and they just put up the tree down to Town Hall, the one with stars on it. On each star is a request for a present from a kid in town. You know, a kid whose family needs a little help. Some of them will just break your heart: a Barbie doll, Play Dough, a new winter hat and mittens. I mean, these kids have nothing. Anyone can go down there, take a star, buy the present, wrap it and drop it back to the Town Hall. If there are any stars left over, the Knights …
Charlie and me buzzed over to the Agway, Saturday. He was picking up his snow blower, which was in for a tune up, and I wanted to get some more bulbs to sneak into the ground. You know, before it’s too late. I got some assorted tulips and daffodils. Come spring, you can’t have enough of them, in my opinion. Those hopeful, green shoots pokin’ their way up out of the remaining patches of snow. Then, gorgeous flowers: red, yellow, pink, orange! It perks my spirit up, no end. I also got three amaryllis, the kind that come in a box, you grow from scratch. Boy, when they bloom, they look so pretty on our …
I learned about integrity early on by observing life in Mahoosuc Mills. Back then, people made deals with a handshake. You gave your word, and that was good enough. Some folks still do business that way. See, when you live in a small town, it’s important to protect your reputation ’cause people have long memories. My Grampy Gilbert taught me the value of giving my word when I was a young whippersnapper. I was reminded of this last weekend when I was straightening out our storage shed, and I come upon his old fishing creel tucked way in back. Beautiful thing. I opened the lid, and inside was a blood oath he made me sign …
Wow! What a week! The election is finally over and we’ll be in the midst of the holiday season in no time. Let’s savor this pause and take some time to do something nice for ourselves. You know, nourish our inner spirit, as my niece Caitlin would say. One of the best ways I know to nourish my inner spirit is to give back. You don’t have to write some big check to a charity, but you could buy some Girl Scout cookies or put a dollar in the Salvation Army bucket. You can volunteer on a weekly basis or for a special event. Or bake some brownies and take ’em down to the Senior …
When was the last time you screamed? I mean really let loose? I think mine must be riding the roller coaster down to the Skowhegan Fair eons ago. That was until the Halloween Spook-tacular at the Buchard’s Farm. See, last Thursday morning, I says to Charlie, “Why don’t we check out that haunted tour thingy over to the Buchards tonight?” “We already did that.” “Years ago. Come on. It’ll be fun.” Famous last words. First off, it was warm, like 70 degrees. You’d think that would be great, right? But it felt kinda unnatural and only served to heighten the spooky factor. Everything starts off kinda cozy at the farm stand. We’re put in a …
