Adventures at Eagle's Aerie: Smalltown Fun

Singing along to whatever radio station i wanted -- mostly Christian radio, so i'm sure i won't hear crud i don't want rolling in my brain, although i did manage to catch part of the Dave Ramsey Show the first day -- i stopped and started whenever fancy struck.

A couple of times i stopped and asked directions of truckers at truck stops. Each time, i was heading the right way, but my dad, Dr. Born Organized Clean, told me it's better to stop and make sure, so you can turn around quickly if you need to. Since then, i've also learned that it's okay if you are lost, you are still in your country, you are still probably in the same state, and it's not that hard to turn around and take the correct way.

In fact, i found that out when the road construction in Memphis deposited me off of the interstate before i realized it. A u-turn on that street, and i was back on in less than one minute.

Because i made good time, i pulled into Eagle's Smalltown at around noon.

Now Smalltown (obviously not its real name, but i'm good at pointing out the obvious and i'm trying to help preserve a bit of anonymity) is really a small town. Not far from the Quad Cities area, her house is easy to find. Get off the interstate and take a left. Stay on Main Drag, and hang a left at the City Hall. She and Mr. Eagle live four blocks up. Really.

Last year, when i got to Grace's house, she wasn't there and her son was asleep, so i went and passed time for a bit and went back.

This year, when i got to the Aerie, Eagle was out in the back yard, and didn't hear her phone. Mr. Eagle wasn't home yet. So i went to the Shell station for gas -- and read the announcement that it was Bob's birthday -- and found the grocery store.

It's a real small town grocery store. They carry the groceries to the car, and aren't open on Sundays.

When i headed back, Mr. Eagle was home and Eagle was inside, so i got to go in and see her beautiful nest.

Eagle is an amazing woman. Not just a room for me, but with a bottle of water and a set of towels, and a clean robe hanging in the closet if i needed it! Wow.

The shrimp had survived the trip, and went back in the freezer. As i unpacked the rest of the stuff, we talked about plans for the rest of the day.

A grocery list, a planned trip to a nearby Biggertown for a health food store visit and a dinner at a restaurant with Grace, Ninja, and Script, and meanwhile, we would walk to Aldi.

Yes, this is Smalltown. Aldi is walking distance. The Post Office is behind City Hall and next to the Fire Station. Nothing is more than a 5 minute drive away. Walking home, i noticed that Sue is retiring from the Regional Bank, everyone come on in Friday and celebrate. Smalltown, really.

Yes, i remembered that Smalltown is slow. Yes, i managed, when driving, to stay at the speed limit of 30mph. Yes, at the corner where the stop sign is missing, i figured it out and stopped anyway.

Eagle and i discussed the differences between Smalltown and bigger places. Her sons never liked living in small towns, they couldn't get used to the fact that so little goes on. It's a nice change of pace, and i could probably get used to it, but it would take a while, since i'm used to being able to get up at 4am and be at the 24hr. Wal-Mart before 5.

The only difficulty i had settling in to the Aerie is that Old Bessy, my computer, has decided she doesn't like Eagle's wi-fi. It will not connect. So i will be visiting the McDonald's every morning to check email and blog.


Today is:

Aloha Festival Floral Parade -- Oahu, Hawai'i (part of the larger Aloha Festival celebrations this month and next on all the islands, celebrating native Hawai'ian culture)

Apple Saturday -- Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, New Gloucester, ME, US (tours of the Shaker orchard and exhibits; also two Saturdays following)

Armed Forces Day -- Peru

Banned Books Week begins -- through Oct. 1, celebrate your right to read what you want!

Confucius' Birthday -- China (observed, 27th day of 8th lunar month)

Constitution Day -- Cambodia

Eldon Turkey Festival -- Eldon, MO, US (top producer of turkeys has the top turkey festival in the world)

Family Health and Fitness Day USA

Feast of the Ingathering -- UK traditional (also called Harvest Home; in Scotland, Kirn; in northern England, Mell-Supper)

Feast of Our Lady of Mercy -- Catholic Christian

Festival of the Latest Novelties -- an internet generated holiday to celebrate everything from traditional whoopie cushions to some of the more modern and weird novelty gifts out there; a great day for practical jokers

Fish Amnesty Day

Going Forth of Isis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar

Heritage Day -- South Africa

Independence Day -- Guinea-Bissau

Innergize Day -- the day to take time for yourself!

Mahidol Day -- Thailand

National Bluebird of Happiness Day -- US (and no one knows why, but it's supposed to be a day to go spread some happiness)

National Cherries Jubilee Day

National Hunting and Fishing Day -- US

National Public Lands Day -- US (Helping Hands for America's Lands -- a day to volunteer on America's Public Lands)

National Seat Check Saturday (Check it for what, sagging? I'm old, of course it is! Oh, make sure car seats are secured -- my kids finally outgrew those, phew.)

New Caledonia Day -- New Caledonia

Punctuation Day -- make sure you are using those punctuation marks correctly!

R.E.A.D. in America Day -- sponsored by CheeREADing

Republic Day -- Trinidad and Tobago

Responsible Dog Ownership Day -- sponsored by the AKC

Schwenkfelder Thanksgiving -- Pennsylvania Dutch followers of Silesian Reformation theology

St. Gerard's Day (patron of Hungary)

UCI Road World Championship -- Copenhagen, Denmark (road cycling's premier event; through tomorrow)

Wild West Show and Bullwhacker Days -- Olathe, KS, US (celebrate the Santa Fe Trail; through tomorrow)



Birthdays Today:

Nia Vardalos, 1962
Phil Hartman, 1948
Linda McCartney, 1941
Jim Henson, 1936
Anthony Newley, 1931
Sheila MacRae, 1924
Jim McKay, 1921
F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1896
Horace Walpole, 1717


Today in History:

Prophet Muhammad completes his hijra from Mecca to Medina, 622
The last Emperor of the Komnenian restoration of the Byzantine Empire, Manuel I Komnenos, dies; the empire slips into terminal decline, 1180
The Dutch Republic surrenders New Amsterdam to England, 1664
The first autopsy and coroner's jury verdict is recorded in the state of Maryland, 1657
John Jay is appointed by George Washington as the first Chief Justice of the then six-person Supreme Court, which was instituted by the Federal Judiciary Act passed that same day, 1789
US Attorney General Office is created, 1789
The Northern Daily Times becomes the first provincial daily newspaper in London, 1853
Alexander Dey patents a dial time recorder, 1889
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy, 1890
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower in Wyoming as the nation's first National Monument, 1906
Cathay Pacific Airways is founded in Hong Kong, 1946
The Honda Motor Company is founded, 1948
Forest fires black out the sun over portions of Canada and New England, and a Blue moon (in the astronomical sense) is seen as far away as Europe, 1950
Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe, is opened in Barcelona, 1957
President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends 101st Airborne Division troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation, 1957
The United States court of appeals orders the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, 1962
Swaziland joins the United Nations, 1968
Compu-Serve launches the first consumer internet service, which features the first public electronic mail service, 1979
Periodic Great White Spot observed on Saturn, 1990
Hurricane Rita devastates Beaumont, Texas, southwest Louisiana, and finishing off some of the parts of New Orleans and southeast Louisiana that Katrina missed, 2005
The G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA, US, marks the first use of LRAD for crowd control in the US, 2009