Hometown

Inspirational song: Small Town (John Mellencamp)

This is not the smallest community I’ve ever lived in. I’d have to do a little research to know for sure whether the town where I grew up in Oklahoma or the spot in New Mexico where we still own a house (more albatross than house at this point) is smaller. Off the top of my head, I’d say Ada has a smaller population, but Clovis is littler side to side. Can’t say that Barstow, Lompoc, or Grand Forks were sprawling metropolises either. Still, my current (and avowed final) hometown is modest even if not tiny in comparison to those of my personal history. I like it that way. While I appreciate healthy growth over economic blight, I would be really sad if this place grows out to smother the farmland surrounding us, to merge with the sprawl of Denver.

I had to take care of yearly business this afternoon, having emissions run on my car and renewing the tag. It could have been stressful for someone like me, going through an unfamiliar process (first time I’ve had to do an emissions test on the car I’ve had for the last seven years) and dealing with bureaucracy. Nope. There were only four people in line in front of me for emissions, and the whole experience was fast, smooth, and done by startlingly cheerful people. I didn’t arrive at the DMV until after two this afternoon, and when I sat down with my line number, I initially thought I would be there a painfully long time. Again, I was pleasantly surprised at how quick and easy it was start to finish. Sure, I had enough time to run back out to the car and grab the proof of insurance that I didn’t bring in the first time (and then didn’t need to provide), but I was still out of there in less than half an hour. I can’t say that the entire credit goes to this being a small community, but I really want to do so.

I was a little wiped out after several hours of being out and about, so I came home to rest. I zoned out, had a snack, and really had to wind myself back up to go back out to the grocery store. I eventually got myself there. I politely declined to purchase Girl Scout cookies on the way in the door, grabbed one of the small carts, and turned towards produce. I had barely cleared the customer service desk when I heard, “Hellllloooooo!” My daughter was standing there with an armful of protein smoothies. I offered up the upper basket of my cart; she emptied her arms, and then walked around the whole store with me. Not only is it awesome to live in a small town in general, it’s even better when it’s small enough to run into your kids in stores once in a while. That was always my benchmark for when I felt like we had settled into a town as the military moved us—how long did it take to recognize someone when you were out buying food? This small town really feels like home now.