I live outside a small town of 800 people. I have always had this fascination with small town life. I think it began as a child when I watched the Walton’s. I loved that they knew there neighbors and seemed to not only help each other but also rely on each other. Since then I have always been drawn to television shows that depict small town life. I was a big Northern Exposure fan, and then I moved on to shows like Everwood and The Gilmore Girls who not only live in the fictional small town of Stars Hollow but have this great mother daughter relationship. After we were first married we lived outside another small town. It was everything I thought it would be. Our neighbors were this wonderful quirky group of people. One was a farm boy who married a business woman who was trying so hard to adapt to the farm life. Another was a college professor and his wife who was trying to live off the land and produced the most wonderful maple syrup. And my favorite was the family who lived down the road from us. They lived life to the fullest and didn’t have much but you would never know it. If they had to take a lamb to market and had no way to get it there she would stick it in the back seat of her car and drive it to market. Life was centered around the church. You didn’t have to be religious to go there. It was more like a meeting hall. Every month activities happened from here, there were progressive dinners and once an old fashioned fashion show after one neighbor found some old garments in her attic. Halloween was an especially fun time. Each child was to carve a pumpkin and bring it in on Halloween night. A little custard cup would appear and you could vote with change for your favorite. The kids would then go trick or treating for UNICEF in caravans of cars as everyone was rural, afterwards we would head back to the hall and donuts and cider were had by all and one of the pumpkins would be crowned king. I imagined I would live there forever, but of course times change and we needed a bigger house and found one 30 miles away. Now we live outside another small town. Not quite the same, but new traditions have abounded here. Halloween is still small town Halloween. Each year a large town party is held at the rotary building. All attend dressed in costume from children to adults. After judging of costumes is finished there are games of all kinds for the kids to win candy and pop. Of course candy bags are handed out at the door. It is fun evening for all and you can’t help but look around you and smile and think how lucky you are to be living a small town life. I am thinking these thoughts as I need to come up with this year’s costume. No rented costumes for us. We go with something we have created. I won the big money ($5) a few years back when I went as an astronaut. I wore a white chemical spraying outfit from the office and cut a 5 gallon water jug in half and wore on my head. My daughter wants me to go as a Go Go girl with her, I don’t think so. I guess I can say I am no Lorelei Gilmore! Who knows what I will come up with, whatever it is I know we are in for a night of small town fun.
