Getting settled

Moving to a small town has its advantages but it requires a shift in pace. Life moves a little slower in a town of 5000, certainly slower than Houston. For example, the old-fashioned use of cash makes me pause to count and perhaps engage in a little conversation with the cashier at Bill's Market. Then there is that ever so slow form of transportation called walking. When a shop is less than 3/4 miles from my house I find it difficult to justify loading the baby into the car seat, finding my keys, and driving for 2 min. Instead, it is just less hastle to walk. Besides, everyone is doing it.

The main thing that requires patience in our new town is shopping. We do not have a Starbucks on every corner, in fact there is not a Starbucks for 30 miles. There is no craft store, Old Navy, Macy's, Nieman Marcus, or any other national chain store in Schuylkill Haven. If I want something a specific or out of the ordinary then it probably involves online shopping or at least a long ride down to Reading. Even there, there isn't too much.

In many ways this pace brings some charm with it. The extra chats, stopping to smell the flowers on a walk, and the added excitement of a special trip to the city have an aura that couldn't be found in Houston, a city that supposedly had everything.