Small Town Pleasures

Charles Town Courthouse

There are some great joys to living in a small town, and Charles Town is a very small town. One of them is getting things done and getting them done quickly.  The bank is next to the post office, which is next to the espresso joint, which is only a few doors away from the propane gas company, which is only a block from the insurance company, well, you get the picture.  I had to visit all of the above and simply parked once and walked around my fair city on this glorious fall day.  Earlier I had to go get my driver’s license renewed at DMV, which is about a ten-minute drive from here. I was signed in at 10:58 and after getting my eyes tested, identity confirmed, picture taken and credit card swiped for $13, I walked out at 11:22 with my new five year license.  Plus, they all smiled, were competent and called me sugar.

I very much miss having the ability to ship things to where we are living.  I feel like a mule with all the luggage I bring back and forth from Moscow, but we have no alternatives at this point.  Luckily I can still check three bags for free on United so I can cram a lot of stuff into three checked bags.   Made the rounds of Wal-Mart today getting those essential odds and ends at bargain prices compared to Moscow. 

There are a few disadvantages in living in a small town and one of them is the fact that everyone knows your business. I received a letter today from our homeowners association telling me that they would like me to remove the camping trailer that is in my driveway. It has been in the driveway since Sunday! It appears that it is an eyesore and someone ratted me out.  The trailer belongs to Colin and Meagan and it is a little pop up thing that is only about three feet high but someone finds it ugly.  It really isn’t a problem since we have lots of room in the garage, but it does make me wonder about the other ‘ugly’ things in driveways, like the guy with his bass boat with the for sale sign, or the other guy with a dune buggy on his lawn, or the guy with his car on blocks.  I’ll write a lovely letter back telling them that I’ve corrected the problem and asking gently about the above.

Cindy is well and filling her time with work and language lessons, which she repeats selected parts of to me on Skype. Don’t know what we did before Skype, well I do know what we did, we ran up huge phone bills or fax charges, but Skype is so much more personal and free.

Best wishes to all, wm

Old Jail

City Hall

Washington Street, the main drag.