I love a small town.

After lunch, I ventured outside for the first time today to find a small ice pond in the middle of the front yard. A water faucet had cracked and had been spraying for who knows how long, a pretty good while based on the amount of water that was frozen. I called Cameron as I turned off the water to the whole house to see what he thought I should do. I figured I'd have to replace the faucet, and thank the good Lord that it wasn't an actual pipe. Cam told me to do just that, but said he didn't have a pipe wrench at the house, so off to Harrison's I went.
Harrison and his wife Courtney own the hardware store here in Stanton. The store looks completely unchanged over the last 50 or 60 years, they even store lumber in original, slightly leaning wooden cubbies in the yard. Even the door handle looks original to the building. It's a really neat. I bought a pipe wrench and cap, and Harrison said if I had trouble with it, call him and he'd come get it off for me.
I came home, put the girls down for a nap, and fought with that stupid spicket for an hour. I just got more and more mad. I sinfully prideful when it comes to things like this, I can fix a lot of things that most women would put on the honey-do list. I actually enjoy doing them. So when I couldn't loosen a simple faucet, it made me really mad. I called Cameron and said it must have been cemented into place, I couldn't get it, and I might have shed a tear or two out of frustration. He said he'd call me back in a sec, and when he did, he said Harrison would be there in a few minutes. Sure enough, about 5 minutes later, he knocked on the door. He had already gotten the faucet off and wanted to know if I wanted him to cap it or replace it with a new faucet. I made him lie to me and tell me it was really hard for him, and he kindly did. Another 5 minutes and he was done! And he wouldn't let me pay him a dime.
It's the kindness and willingness to help others that you don't find in bigger towns, and it's why we won't raise our family anywhere but a small town. So thanks, Harrison!
The ice created some really cool formations. It reminded me of underground caverns.