We lived in Brookings today.
But first, a cicada came out of its shell on our tire! These guys fill the air with their music and wander around in their sludgy, brown bodies until one day, they pop out, all green and shiny and beautiful!
Kiki put this guy on a leaf by the creek so that we would not squish him.
I needed to get some work done, like laundry, so I dropped everyone off at the community pool. 100’s of people gather there, so we figured it would be a great place to observe the folks who live here. The community pool in this town is a kid’s dream There are huge water slides, kid pools, an enormous swimming pool, a snack bar, a playground at the neighboring park, and no helicopter moms. Hang on, what? No helicopter moms? In fact, the age to go to the pool without an adult is 9 years old. Yep, that’s right! A 9-year-old could potentially ride a bike to the pool and go swimming. With the exception of a few pre-teens, all kids were playing nicely, no meanness, helping little ones, watching out for one another. Even the few rowdy kids looked at the life guards and followed directions when told to behave. The lifeguards were just kids themselves. There is an obvious respect for authority and fellow humans here. Just another mark in favor of Brookings.
We spent a lot of the day at the pool. I went down town and did some laundry and looked around a bit. Main Street sports several coffee shops that serve great, locally-roasted coffee, antique shops, outdoor shops, a bike shop and club that leads bike rides several times per week (Why, yes, I DO want a place with group bike rides!), little pubs, a pizza place, a place to do laundry, a dance school, and several local eateries. There is a children’s museum, library, and post office, as well, in the downtown area.
I picked everyone up and we headed to Nick’s Hamburger Shop. It appeared to be run by a family, even the young teen son was working there. It was a great little place, even if they didn’t offer a vegan/vegetarian option. I think a person who wanted that (me?) could, over time, make friends with them such that they’d have a veggie burger in the freezer. That is the kind of place this is. Everyone knows one another.
Apparently, yesterday Judah and Brandon spent the family fortune on fireworks. Judah used up all of his little car fireworks, and wanted more. However, no luck. This place is open until midnight. Huh. I guess they are opened until midnight IF they open at all. Today they were not opened. I am pretty sure Judah will grow up to be a fireworks engineer.
So, of course, we sent the kids off to light fireworks while we lounged around camp.
At this point, the kids don’t want to leave this town. They think this might be the only place like this. We keep telling them that there are other places to explore, and that it’s not this town in particular, but this entire area of the country that is like this. People are nice here, they seem to care a bit more. Small towns have more pride in their buildings and houses, and there is less crime. The kids are used to seeing a lot of pain in humanity, people sleeping on the street, people so high they cannot comprehend their actions walking in traffic, people treating others without kindness or humanity. This place is not wealthy, by any stretch of the imagination. However, there is more hope in that air than the town we live out of right now.
The kids have given smiles, kind words, money, hugs, to the suffering in our town. They would need to find a new mission here. I am sure it is here if they look.
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