The snow just keeps coming, I’ve never seen anything like it. I went out to town last night to pick up supplies and even while I was loading my cart with good food that would last a long time I saw other shoppers eyeing my cart.
I had soups, meats, breads and lots of beans and lentils.
Food that would make food – food that could be frozen, food that could be heated, lots of good options.
When I got to the register the cashier rang me through and then set my groceries aside. She asked if she could give me some advice, and I said sure, expecting her to tell me about winter survival in this area.
Instead she took my cart back out and got a case of bottled water, a flat of canned beans, two huge jars of peanut butter and a big bag of flour.
She carefully wrote a recipe for a pan fried bread and told me that the water wasn’t standard, but until I could get someone out to check my section of the river I’d better play it safe with the taps and bottles.
I asked how the river would be safe to drink in some areas, but not others and she gave me a sidelong glance.
“It’s not the drinking that I’d worry about, ma’am.”
She wrote her phone number on the back of my receipt and told me if i left her a message she’d be happy to connect me with someone who could walk my banks.
I loaded everything into my truck and headed home… wishing I could figure out why every interaction here felt so much stranger than it needed to.
The snow fell thickly the whole day, but the sky was clear and blue – I didn’t know that was possible.