My beautiful fat cat is sitting on her beatiful fat mom’s lap (that’s me), purring and eyeing the 4 squares of Cadbury’s chocolate that I was trying to savor but now must gobble to protect my claim to it. The chocolate polishes off a wonderfully greasy meal at the local pub, and my lone dining experience (whilst my husband is giving lectures at school) has inspired me to describe my little town.
Let’s call my town Mayberry. Mayberry is a 2 stoplight town, at the heart of it, though if one claimed the surrounding unattractive sprawl of fast food joints etc. one would have to tack on a couple more **I do not. I pretend the sprawl is not there.** Mayberry’s central business district is two blocks long and one block deep. We have the Mayberry wine shop, a large low ceilinged room with golden hardwood floors and dozens of filled wine racks – it has Christmas lights in the window and always looks very warm and inviting inside. By the wine shop is the new expensive Italian restaurant that will close in another month if they don’t lower their prices. Nearby is the antique shop full of very cool, NOW stuff that I would spend way more money in if it was ever open when I was home. Mayberry’s tiny bookstore nestles in a brick courtyard between two buildings – they never have what you’re looking for, but you usually end up buying something anyway, and they can order whatever you want at any time. It’s about twice the price of Amazon dot com, but worth it to me to keep the little place going. I go there once a quarter and treat myself. There is the new seafood restaurant that just moved into the old Pharmacy, where you can get to-die-for tuna soft tacos (the pharmacy sign is still up above the door); the steak and seafood grill at the top of a set of rickety steps that is sort of hard to find yet curiously always packed; the used bookstore that I have yet to explore but always gaze at longingly as I drive through town, always after hours; the small post office that is open from 10-12 on Saturday, and not a second earlier (don’t even try to sweet talk the postman through the glass door). Behind the businesses on the main street are the old historic houses, many with important-historical-significance-proclaiming plaques, most costing enough money that Mayberry could easily be a town with a ‘tude. I’m very happy it’s not.
Tonight I was at our local – a pub with 5 tables and a booth in it that was packed to the rafters, even on this random Tuesday evening. They have peanuts in buckets on the tables, and you throw the shells on the floor. The same bar man is always there, with a white towel thrown over his shoulder. He knows everybody and they know him, though he’s just getting to know newcomers Professor and me. Last time we went there together with friends, everyone in the bar was having a spontaneous dance fest – no one knew anyone else, but they decided to pool their money and keep the jukebox running, and were dancing and throwing peanuts at each other over our heads all evening. It’s a wonderfully intimate little place – tonight I kept to myself, reading Jane Austen and steadfastly ignoring everyone around me, which was (a) extremely hard to do given our close quarters, and (b) quite foolish and shy of me, since I could have made some friends. Someday I’ll let my guard down.
My town is charming, warm, small, and has everything we need. It feeds my soul when I drive through it each day on my way to and from work. We won’t live here forever – someday too soon, the Professor’s course will end and we will follow his career prospects. Until then, though, I’m happy to be a Mayberr-i-an.
Hey there-
So I just spent time catching up…on the end of your great wedding party, on your weird – and suspiciously unbelievable, yet impressive – things, and on your town of Mayberry. The wedding sounds like it was a great time – hopefully you got some great pix, your photog sounds like she was really giving you the best bang for your buck. Good for her.
Your Mayberry entry sounds nice and relaxing, and it\’s interesting how you read in the bar instead of being social. I would do the exact same thing, while the Man is usually greeting and meeting and getting to know people. To me reading and enjoying solitude in a very raucus atmosphere is strangely relaxing in a \’who\’s the mysterious woman enjoying herself and her book with no need of socialization\’ way.
I wish I could visit Mayberry sometime soon. It sounds like a lovely place and very different from where I live. Very. I think I would enjoy Mayberry more.
I, too, would have been reading at the busy pub. I love that you can get lost anywhere — anytime you read a book. I always have a book with me and I am never afraid to grab it out of my purse if a free second comes up. No shame in that. Sometimes you just want to socialize with the characters in the book instead of the people sitting next to you. Sometimes the characters in the book are far more interesting.
Amanda 🙂
Sound quaint and nice. I loooved your wierd list, quite the riot. You are a funny funny girl, not buggy like me. ; ) By the way where did you get that elvish subliminal tape? I may need that.
Mayberry sounds like my hometown and as much as it is nice, I am glad I only visit there and don\’t live, but I\’m glad that you feel safe and comfy. It sound idyllic. 🙂
Hope all is well.