General Store
“I love my general store so much. I watch every new development since it’s been bought, like a hawk. First it was a systematic dismantling of the west side of the building. What the heck! I couldn’t imagine what would be going on there. More straight forward: the new siding on the east. And then the front door got a whole lot messier. Caution tape, then “no door”, then a new door. Okay! I’m embarrassed to admit I’ll miss the old school hardware on the old door, and the confusion I couldn’t seem to shake, about whether to pull out, or push in. An excellent hedge, against dementia, or just basic inattention. You have to be on your toes, to go into any local store like this one. Anyone could be in there. Friends, enemies, frenemies. Just like that, with no warning. Wow. A neighbor who hates the way you plow snow, or hates you because you stole their boyfriend a few decades back, or who just plain hates you, for no reason. Alternately, you might run into “a hot guy” whatever that is, or someone who is as interested in compost, and soil composition, as you are. You could get a 15 minute run-down, on how to find out-of-print patterns for hand blocked paper or a formula for calendula ointment. People 15 years younger, or 15 years older, who still have some life in them. Most likely the gossip you’ll pick up, will only come alive when coupled with gossip you’ve not heard yet, but will, if any of your friends are worth their salt. Bonus points, if the gal running the cash register also works part time, for your business. We all need spies, especially if we are socially inept, and/or not often seen in public. Then again, our best allies are wise, beyond their years. They can convey information without judgment, or malice. They may have been invited to events, you would not be. because your social capital is low. And yet, they see things, as they really are, and can report back, with equanimity. Unfortunately, most of the mega-millionaires in your town are simultaneously sort of hip, sort of Vermonters, either ex-NHL hockey players, famous actresses, regular folks who got lucky, or psychopaths. Take your pick. Your children will probably be invited to their secret parties, behind locked gates, in the National Forest, off season, but you won’t be. Rest assured, that you belong to the truly hidden cognoscente of Vermont, the chosen few, who will be recognized shortly after you die. That’s why it’s so hard to go to the general store, to buy Half and Half, now. All the things you know, all the things you’ve not wanted to know, it’s as if you’ve suddenly formed your very own covert intelligence agency.. Here, in the midst of thunderous watercourses, and trackless forest, reside pompous rich megalomaniacs, drug addicts and the white collar criminal element. The ones you don’t want to bump into at the store, back to back with some of the kindest, most accomplished unknowns in God’s creation. As for the latter, if you’re reading their obituary, it might be too late.”