Small town news

Once again I am reminded why I love living in a small town.

The newspaper is the media of choice twice a week for truly local news. While the rest of the world whirls by at lightening speeds around us, my corner is concerned with the faces and places shared by a select few. Local town politics airs its dirty laundry on the front page along with the hazing scandal the shut down one of our college’s hockey season. Gun sales are apparently skyrocketing according to the front page business story.

But when I flipped the section over I was rewarded with shots of cute kids at a town tea party and a report on the annual ice fishing derby.

My neighbor cleared the frozen snow from my drive way this morning. It didn’t take him long nor did it eat up a lot of gas, he just took a couple of swings and made it less treacherous. People looking out for other people means I could descend the slope to civilization.

The weather may be tiresome but I have proof we went from 26° below  (plus 30 degree windchill factor) three days ago, to 40° above today.

The balmy breezes brought people out, despite the rain bucketing down, and everyone seemed cheery. The teller at the bank greeted me by name though I suspect she cheated and checked at my deposit slip, but she said it with a genuine smile. I spent a lovely hour with my tax man. For the last ten years he has met with me twice a year and it is always like a spa day for me, I come away feeling strong and confident. He is kind, caring and I think somewhat amused by my rather erratic lifestyle. If you rolled a catholic priest, a kindly big brother and an astute mathematician into one person, that would be Paul. Never once has he looked me in the eye and said, “Martha you really are screwed, time to fix your life.” (well at least not yet)

I switched on the Nightly News – WMUR Channel 9 – our only NH television station. Top story! Two local gun shops were targeted by thieves. Didn’t you just tell me they have all the money? Well that’s a surprise!! The college hockey team made the line-up so my local news went, um a little less local? The weather report confirmed the state has seen a 90° swing in temperature over a matter of days.

Next up, the REAL nightly news from ABCnews.com World Update. A story of the presidential race with a one-word tweet from Jeb Bush, “America” captioning a photo of his new gun engraved with:  Senator Jeb Bush.

I haven’t made it into the Ledger-Transcript lately.  I love living in a small town…