LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE
There are many advantages to living in a small town. No traffic. Low crime. Slower pace. But with that comes the downside of no Starbucks, no Target, no Sushi. But we do have a lovely Tractor Supply and a terrific Goodwill. (Jim went to the grocery store looking for capers and they had them in the Chinese Food section - there's your sign!!!)
The town of Virgilina where we live had a population of 159 as of the 2000 Census. Since over 50% of those represented people over 45, there is a better than even chance that there are fewer people today. The town itself owns less than 1 sq mile of land. Downtown consists of a beauty parlor, grocery store, car repair shop, volunteer fire department and a bar/restaurant (called the Cowboy Up).
In spite of what appears to be a blip on the map - I attended the annual Virgilina Summerfest (summer cannot begin without this happening) where the parade lasted 1.5 hours. Yup - you read that right. I lost count of the number of fire trucks and rescue vehicles that participated. Suffice it to say that if anyone needed a fire truck or rescue vehicle within a 3 county radious - no one was home - they were all in Virgilina with their lights flashing. In addition to the fire trucks and rescue vehicles there were a number of antique and not so antique cars. I got the import of 60's, 70's and 80's muscle cars but a 2008 Escalade - 3 of them actually. Go figure. Then there were the Church floats - rather elaborate too. There were also a few horses. Each vehicle participating had someone tossing handfulls of candy to the bystanders. People brought bags, buckets and sacks to collect the booty. They obviously knew the drill.
In addition to the parade, there were craft vendors selling - believe it or not - real homemade crafts - not some overstock stuff - but real crafts. And good stuff too. I didn't know you could make a purse out of the butt section of blue jeans. The food was typical Southern fare including Brunswick Stew for lunch and Barbecue for dinner. For those who have not tried Brunswick stew you are not missing much. It's sort of like a chicken stew that's been pureed. I'm serious. The settlers used to make this stuff with Rabbit, Muscrat or Squirrel. It might improve the flavor if they used a more exotic meat.
Final note. Although I make fun of my podunk town - I love it here. I love the people and the dinky stores and buying my gourmet coffee at a Sheetz gas station convenience store. There is a real sense of community and caring here. I wouldn't trade it for all the green tea latte's in the world....maybe I should rethink that statement :) Nope - I'm here and I'm learning to be a down home country girl. Anyone for grits?