Shop Local Saturday
This past Saturday downtown Monticello was alive with activity, Small Town Saturday shopping day. Maybe back in the day, every Saturday was like this one as the whole county converged on downtown to shop, eat, and talk.
From her vantage perch atop the “peach, orange, Pepto Bismol, color-painted” headquarters of the largest newspaper in Jasper County, Editor-in-Chief, Kathy Mudd, could get a bird’s eye view of the happenings in and around the Square. Traffic was thicker than a rainy Friday afternoon on Interstate 75.
Taking a side street behind the courthouse to avoid the jam in the square, I motored to several stores that I thought might have what I needed, really my cat, Trouble, needed, catnip. Of course, you have to be careful where you buy it as it can be mistaken for another bunch of crushed up leaves that, if caught with it, might give you a vacation in the “gray bar hotel.”
As any of you cat owners know, cats never grow tired of ripping and tearing through the house, taking whatever is in their way with them when their nerves get shot. Catnip seems to be the only thing to act as a tranquilizer causing kitty a few minutes of ecstasy, flipping, rolling and doing sideways jumps. Sad to say no catnip found in my search.
One of the best part of the holidays is the feast. A time-honored tradition is putting on a few pounds, so one of your New Years resolutions could be to lose weight. Why not give a welcome gift this year of special foods. The famous British store, Fortnum and Mason, sells a hamper of foods and drinks for all occasions, but especially for holidays.
Their hamper is actually like our woven cane picnic baskets and filled with items such as smoked salmon, several types of marmalade, ham, Piccadilly piccalilli, cranberry sauce, spicy mustard, spiced tea, hot chocolate mix, aged cheddar, chutney, dark chocolate and cookies, olives, nuts. My doesn’t that all sound delicious and what a feast you would give someone. You can fill a hamper/basket right here in Monticello.
Weather reports are predicting the possibility of the dreaded snow. If not snow, at least, some early cold weather sweeping down from the North. Get out your cold weather clothes, but remember our weather can be 27 degrees today and 92 degrees next week.
Shop Early, Shop Local.