We didn't see any snow, not even a flake, but lots of rain - for when it rains in North Carolina - it pours. The wind seems tamer here, not as heavy. It could be that it doesn't come with a bite below 32*. Today it will warm to 40 and by Tuesday it will be 60. Not bad and since we are trying to avoid the bitterness of winter, I guess we are doing just fine. Maybe next year we will go further south, but that's for summer planning. For this winter we plan to stay here on the Neuse River. We walk every day, spend time reading, writing, visiting with friends and sometimes go out for supper. That's our day in a nutshell. The news around Oriental is all about the only grocery store closing. That would be the WallMart, the small size that was suppose to be the super market for the area. They've been here one year, put the only local grocery store out of business and now they are pulling up stakes, leaving the community scratching their heads and looking for rides to the nearest supermarket which is in Grantsboro about a half hour ride. Like driving to Orleans to buy a loaf of bread. Good old WallMart took the only pharmacy with them as well, after putting the only pharmacy out of business as well. If you need a prescription filled you drive 20 minutes. Many of the town's elderly are looking for rides. There is no bus service here. This also doesn't bode well for the sailing transients who were able to purchase supplies by walking or biking the mile to the now defunct market. Dave and I have been blessed to have friends like Ellen and Randy who have loaned us their old truck to do the big shopping. We stocked up before we left home so there is plenty in the freezer and in the cabinets. We pick up fresh farmed eggs at the farmers market on Saturdays and purchase milk and a few other essentials at the Inland Water Ways Provisions Co, just feet from the boat. We buy water for drinking and cooking by the gallon, I have a week's supply left so we will have to make a trip to the closest supermarket next week. We will lay in 10 gallons of drinking water and I'll stock up on paper products at that time. I admit it was convenient having Wall Mart close by, but I swear I'll never set foot in one again. It is my belief that their experiment in the grocery business was a way for them to get some kind of a tax break, or earn points for credit or some other scheme to put more profit in the pockets of the Waltons. They had to have had this planned out to the penny. There's no way that they could just close up after only one year and then say it didn't work out. They didn't even try. So screw them, just like they screwed this community. I'd never been in one before I came here and I don't think I'll ever need anything from them again. So that's my rant for today. Stay out of Wall Mart if you can. I know they are cheaper, but sometimes cheaper isn't better.
I'm glad to be able to use FaceBook. Keep snapping those pics of Provincetown with snow on the streets, the wind howling a gale. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Miss the people, but not the weather.
Fair Winds my friends. Stay safe, warm and dry.
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