Dear Reader,
One thing about living in a small town, that I really didn't appreciate until I left, is the neighborly feeling a small town gives you. Growing up in one of those small towns, population 2,000, everybody pretty much knew everybody, and if you needed a ride, or a cup of sugar--just knock on a door. I hope my mind isn't stuck "back in the day," and the reality is that just like big city dwellers, small town folks simply go about their business nowadays, and don't even know who lives next door anymore. (I sure hope not.)
For the past 26 years I've lived in Sarasota, Florida, population 56,000. It offers just the right amount of big city feel, and if you're on the lookout for it, you can experience that small town feeling every day, too.
It was 8:30 in the morning, my phone rang. It was Mark the receptionist at my dentist's office, "Suzanne, I see you're on our cancellation list. If someone canceled their teeth cleaning, you wanted us to call. We're calling. I know it's short notice, but could you be here at 10 a.m.?"
"Unfortunately," I told Mark, "my husband is gone for the day, so I don't have a car."
"No problem, Mark said. "You live close by, we're practically neighbors, how about if I pick you up ten minutes before ten, and I'll take you back home after your cleaning?"
Being chauffeured to the dentist, it was a first for me. When I arrived I told the staff I felt like "Queen for a Day." (Remember that show? Unfortunately the dentist and I were the only ones old enough to remember.) Forty-five minutes later, my teeth were clean, shiny and smooth, with no cavities, and I got a lift home from a "neighbor."
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
* It's my Summer Reading Giveaway! Summer is the perfect time to pull up a lounge chair and settle in with a good book. Every day this week I'm giving away books from my bookshelf and you can enter every day. Click here.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
* ICE, by Anna Kavan, is this month's Penguin Classics book. Enjoy a great Classics book and enter-to-win a Penguin tote bag. Click here to start reading.
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