Some Adjustment Required

We knew when we moved out into the country that some adjustments to our lifestyle would be required. For example, when we lived in Florida, we were only about four miles from a shopping center with a Publix grocery store, and a mile or two more from several different restaurants. At our home in Alabama, it is about eight miles to a very small Piggly Wiggly in Gordo, but if we want Publix or a Walmart supercenter, it’s a half hour drive or more to Northport. So needless to say, we have to plan ahead because it’s not convenient to run to the store when we need a gallon of milk or a pound of butter.

It’s the same with restaurants. Pickings in the small town of Gordo are slim. There’s a burger joint and a Subway sandwich shop that we have been to a couple of times, a BBQ place that we have never found open, and maybe another eatery or two we have yet to discover.

Except for an excellent small family run Mexican place, we have not found many good restaurants in Northport yet. If we want Chinese food we go to Mr. Chen’s in Tuscaloosa, and the closest thing we have found to decent seafood is the Shrimp Basket, also in Tuscaloosa. For either of those, add another fifteen minutes or more to the trip.

Fortunately we don’t have to go anywhere for delicious pizza, because Miss Terry makes the best pizza from scratch that I’ve ever eaten, right here at home. If you don’t believe me, look at last night’s dinner. She made a pepperoni pizza for me and a fully loaded one for herself. That’s a trip to town we didn’t have to make, even if we knew of a good pizza place in Northport or Tuscaloosa, which we have not found yet.

But when we get up in the morning and open the drapes on the sliding glass door in our bedroom to look out on our pasture, or sit out on our back deck in the evening looking at our little piece of paradise, occasional inconveniences like that don’t compare to all we have here.

Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is six e-book box set of my friend, USA TODAY bestselling author Claude Bouchard’s Vigilante series. Doesn’t everyone fantasize a bit about vigilante justice? Haven’t you ever read or heard of some despicable act of violence and secretly wished you could have the opportunity to make the predator pay? Welcome to the Vigilante series, a growing collection of suspense bestsellers best described as thrillers and mysteries which will have you cheering for the assassin as justice is delivered in a clandestine fashion. But remember, this is fiction, so it’s not a crime.

To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – You have permission to rest. You don’t have to be responsible for fixing everything and everyone that is broken.