The Weekly Smile for the 7th of February, 2022 #weeklysmile

28 Replies

Hi all! How are you this week? I hope you all have something, at least one thing, to smile about. It can be big, small, or just normal sized. It can be something you did, something someone said, or even a memory that came up.

Speaking of which…

I have lived in my small New Hampshire town longer than I admit that I’ve been alive ;) Well, not really, but it was a very long time ago (early 1990s) that the fresh, young Trent bought a small house for himself in the village center. Years later, and married, he bought a much larger house that was almost right next door to the small one, but that is a story for another day. This story is about one of my first winters in the original house.

I don’t mind shoveling snow, but ice gets the better of me. After a nasty ice storm, I walked to the local hardware store. There used to be two locally owned hardware stores in our small village and a third within three miles. We often forget how the big-box stores decimated all of those mom-and-pop stores. The two I visited most often did not survive the 1990s and the third turned into a specialty store with safety equipment. Anyway, I asked for something to help with the ice, and I wanted it as Earth-friendly as possible.

The owner got out a bag of very expensive “salt” but then asked me if I owned a house in town. I did. He nodded. I’d talked to him before.

“I know it is taking money out of my pocket to say this, but if you are a property owner and tax payer, you can get all of the free sand you want,” he said. “Well, within reason – you can get enough to make sure your driveway is good, but you can’t take extra and and you can’t do other people’s drives nor ask for any money. You see, you are a tax payer, so you bought the sand. It is partially yours.”

I thanked him, bought a few things to show my appreciation, then made the short drive to the DMV/Highway Department lot. There were a few large piles. I filled up a couple of buckets and used them on my drive. It really helped!

So, we had an ice storm on Friday. Sunday morning my drive was still a block of ice. It is on the north side of the house and always in the shade, so it might be late March before it thaws. Yesterday I drove up and grabbed an overflowing five gallon bucket of sand. It helped a lot! I went back and grabbed another bucket, not quite as full. About a third went on the drive and walkways, but the rest is sitting here, waiting for the next ice storm.

As I dug the sand out of the huge pile I had to smile as I remembered the kind store owner who gave me the tip to get some “free” sand.

That was my smile for the week, remembering this kind man and using his advice to make my life much easier once again this year.

What made you smile?

(A reminder – There will not be a Smile Recap post next week).

****

Come on, I’m sure you smiled at least once last week.  Why don’t you share it?  I hope you can join in!

Here is list of “rules” and guiding ideas.  If you don’t have time to read it right now, just remember that this is an exercise to spread positivity.  Don’t smile about the misfortune of others.  Don’t smile in a way to excludes others.  Make sure a 12 year old can read it.

To join in, write a post to share your smile and then leave a comment on this post with a link to your smile.  Or, if you prefer, do a pingback to this post (pingback = have a link from your post to this one) (Note – pingbacks have been very inconsistent – please leave a comment :) ).   You can post any time until next Sunday evening (to be simple, I will say midnight GMT, which is 7 PM Sunday for me).  Note – I am no longer compiling the Smiles into a Recap post. I’ll try to get the new smile out between 7 and 8:30 Eastern Time.

28 thoughts on “The Weekly Smile for the 7th of February, 2022 #weeklysmile”

  1. Pingback: doughnut, anyone? – Touring My Backyard

  4. Pingback: TRENT’S WEEKLY SMILE – 2/8/22 – The Happy Wordcrafter

  6. Prior...

    Hi Trent -that was nice if the store clerk to inform you of the free option. Our county offers free mulch – and that is great but it is hard work to make it up and dropt it off – ut a nice perk!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      It is a nice perk. I am always a little surprised at how few people take advantage of the sand, but I’m not sure how widely know it is, and it is a lot of hard work to get some, so… Sure has made my life easier!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓
  7. Webb Blogs

    We have an Ace hardware here. I do prefer it over the bigger stores like Home Depot. Here’s my Weekly Smile, which also happens to be a memory of long ago 😁https://webbblogscom.wordpress.com/?p=1828

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  8. Pingback: Weekly Smile – (TTC #867) – Laura McHarrie @ The Hidden Edge

      1. Emille

        We’re here not living long enough to know that about storms, but if if thunder rolls, it can be so loud you have the feeling of an explosion right about one’s head!
        They told us, snow, oh that is so seldom, once every few years – yeah right! (ironically they also told us than in Sacramento”s California – the last winter the elec. power went out 4 times (and a few days to restore it each time!)

        Liked by 1 person

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  10. Diana

    What a great smile post and in my small town we can go to the local fire department to fill sandbags for flooding when we know rain storms are on their way. Free of course. It is sad to see the small businesses disappear. We have a local hardware store and I think it’s ACE hardware too. At least it’s still there and so close by we could walk there. It’s an exit or two down the freeways to get to Home Depot or Lowe’s. 😀

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓
    1. trentpmcd Post author

      It is nice that there is a smaller option than the huge big-box stores. Cool that it is within walking distance, so if you need something small, right now, well… I can see sandbags being very important in some areas.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓
    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I think ever small town does have its local color, and some small mom and pops stores, but it is a shame how many almost entire sectors are gone, like the old fashioned book stores that were always so fun to browse…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓
  12. tidalscribe.com

    We have a lovely family run hardware shop which is small and so crammed with stuff, you can hardly squeeze along the in aisle and back up the return aisle. Since Covid they tend to stand guard and ask what you would like, but half the point is the fun of looking and discovering things you didn’t know you needed. But of course always ask if they have something you need as they nearly always do. Larger items are put out on the pavement every morning and hauled back in again late afternoon. Going in there makes me smile.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply ↓
    1. trentpmcd Post author

      There is a pretty big hardware store about six miles away, though I think they recently affiliated with ACE – most of the smaller stores all seem to be ACE. It doesn’t quite have the character that the store you describe has, but it has a lot more personality than Lowes or Home Depot! There is at least one ACE in every town on Cape Cod, one of which (Harwich port) is similar to what you describe, so they aren’t all gone.

      Like

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