random thoughts – Day 2,083 (Saturday) – snow and sparkles

Morning sun and light snow.

The Friday snow flurries continued through the night and left the neighborhood blanketed in a thin coat of fresh flakes for the morning. The rising sun cast long shadows across the lawns and soon, into the windows at the front of the house, flooding the living room with sunlight. It was pretty. 

I was mistrustful of the coated street and assumed it was slippery. I have wiped out on innocent light snowfall before thanks to ice beneath it.  Before long, a couple cars limped along the tiny incline of the street and seemed to prove me correct. Then Mom called to say she slipped and nearly fell in her driveway because it was slick under the snow.

There was an errand planned for the morning, and luckily, the snow on the asphalt had melted off and the streets were just wet by the time I was dressed, sufficiently caffeinated, and ready to roll. At The Good Earth Farm and Garden Center a sign informed that photos could be taken with Dominic the Donkey. Several people stood nearby waiting for their moment with Dominic. Once out of Gardner, the ride along route 2A included stretches of road where I was the only vehicle and it felt a little creepy in a Twilight Zone sort of way.

Shiny thing #1.

On the return leg of the morning outing, there was more traffic. I made a stop at Back in Tyme, which is the shop Mom and I tried to visit earlier in the week but couldn’t find. Waze had the destination set on route 2A, but it is actually on a street behind 2A. The shop advertises “reclaimed furniture and home décor.” 

The shop was filled with affordable décor items and ornaments. I came close to buying a framed painting, but talked myself out of it with the knowledge of the too many art pieces still not hung on the walls that are nearly impossible to bang nails into.

The shop that succeeded in getting my wallet open was Pease Orchard Gift Shop. The tiny shop was loaded with sparkly sun catchers and handcrafted jewelry. I got a dangly thing with a slice of a yellow stone with beads and a faceted crystal ball because the yellow was perfect for my kitchen. Then I added a wood stick with strands of faceted discs and pointy crystal things which was a soft pink when the sun shone through it. After the snowflakes and icicles come out of the bay window it will likely hang there, but for now it is temporarily hung on the corner of a mirror where its full splendor is somewhat stifled. 

Shiny thing #2.

On the return trip past the shop with the Dominic the Donkey photo site, Dominic stood quietly, waiting for more visitors next to a human who sat in a lawn chair. I almost stopped, more to pet the donkey than to have a photo, but kept driving. It felt like the sort of thing that would be more fun with a companion than as a solo operator and there were things to be done at home like finding display spaces for the new shiny things.