random thoughts – Day 2,071 (Monday) – road trip

Crispy morning.

Sunday night’s icy rain lingered as a light coating for a lightly crispy Monday morning. Most of it melted from the latest blanket of the never-ending oak leaves and pine needles. The carport gutter, cleaned out just a few weeks ago, proudly sported spiked oak leaves like a holiday dinner table centerpiece.

This afternoon, Mom and I took our road trip to visit some local shops on the annual “Country Roads Holiday Tour” and (hopefully) kick off the holiday shopping. We intended to go last Thursday but I started feeling really crappy, we postponed, and I spent the next couple days on the couch.

The big challenge with going today was that many of the shops on the list are not open on Mondays. Or even Tuesdays. In some cases, even Wednesdays. We made it to three of the 20 shops today, and will visit some of the others later this week or some other week.

The first stop was The Good Earth Farm & Garden Center (Gardner), which has lots of gardening, pet supplies, and interesting gift and small décor items. A friend advised transplanting my Christmas cactus, but I couldn’t remember what size pot it’s currently in, so no flowerpot was bought. The cat toy selection was great, but Kiki already has an insane number of toys that she neglects (cha-ching!) and I moved on.

Red Apple Farm (Phillipston) has lots of jam, jelly, relish, pickled eggs, fruit, fudge, baked goods, and take and bake foods. We bought donuts. Back at home, I learned that pumpkin donuts are quite tasty.

The third and final stop for the day was The Country Store (Petersham), which is a café/eatery with gift and grocery items including cheese, baked goods, candy, craft beer, and specialty condiments. The gifts and artworks are spread throughout the store, including near and behind the tables where people were eating, which made it feel very awkward to be shopping. “Excuse me, let me squeeze behind your seat and overhear your personal conversation to look at this basket of images printed on book pages.” Weird. The wood stove was roaring and cozy. We were in there for maybe 15 minutes and hours later, my hair smells like I’ve been sitting by a campfire for a week. At least wood stove smoke doesn’t mess with my sinuses like scented candles and perfumes do and I can still breathe.

Clouds in Phillipston.

The clouds were dramatic and captivating during our ride. The best views with distant hills and low, moody clouds were unfortunately on the winding and narrow-ish country roads. There was no safe place to get a photo and/or I wasn’t willing to terrify my mother by stopping the car on such a road to take a photo. I’m sweet like that.