Bulk Shopping Day

Melanie and I headed out to The Country Store, which is a bulk store and bakery owned by the minister and his wife of the Mennonite church we attended while the children were growing up. Its always fun to shop there as I get to chat a bit with old friends.
We found the things we needed rather quickly but went down the isles a few extra times just looking at all the things and also breathing in deeply the wonderful smells from the bakery. Pies, cinnamon rolls, and of course freshly baked breads. We found Mei-Ling some tiny knee socks for winter, looked at books for her for when she is a bit older. Saw the very same coloring books my children had. I found a couple invisible zippers in the size and color I needed. Had to come home with a new book too. Melanie was happy to get one of the last jars of pickled eggs, pickled in beet juice just the way she likes them. I got my big sacks of flour, dry soup mixes, lady finger popcorn, which is just the best popcorn along with lots of other needs. All good prices and suitable for the cooking Emery likes the best. I also found some sweet magnets for the refrigerator with scripture on them, at 49 cents each, I thought they were good buys.
On the way home we drove up and down the hills of the countryside, roads wide enough for just one car. Trees meeting overhead creating the best of canopies. Mei-Ling slept in her car seat and Melanie and I talked as I drove. Just a wonderful simple afternoon.
At home, a lace tablecloth danced on the clothesline, next to a row of clothespins standing at attention, reminding me of toy wooden soldiers.
The chickens were happy to be let out of the hen house, eggs to be gathered. Every day things, but the beauty of these simple acts never escapes me. Roses, food for hungry bugs, rosemary filling the air with fragrance. The sun, fading in the west, a chill returning to the air. Squirrels munching on acorns and crows yelling at one another from the tree tops. Somehow the ordinary always seems extraordinary to me.