It’s raining.
The farmer has been to empty our cess pit and wished us all the best on our next house purchase.
He has always been reliable and pleasant, if a little on the quiet side, but today, as his machine sucked out the muck, he chatted to us both for the entire duration of the job.
Obviously not the most pleasant of jobs, it would appear we are one of the few households who offer a cup of tea/coffee on arrival and are prepared to pass the time of day, even in the rain.
After he left, we locked up the house and went about the running around business scheduled for today.
We ended up saying goodbye to a fair number of people who we have become chatty with over the years but don’t actually see often.
The Post Lady (I gave her a huge bag of apples last year) gave us our mail in the Post Office car park as she was loading up her van, wishing us well in our next venture.
Our local DIY shop has always seen us alright, and been really helpful after they’ve stopped laughing at me. They are pleased to see us SOLD after all this time, and said that if we couldn’t find what we wanted wherever we ended up, to bear them in mind. Somehow I don’t think delivery would be free this time, but it was a nice gesture and they are a team of people we will miss.
In town, we went about filling the shopping list in various outlets for our forthcoming travels, and again the shop assistants wished us well and hoped they would see us at least once again before we left.
I’m not being funny, but this has had a weird affect on me.
We live in a small village, know the nearest residents by name and many of the others by sight.
Like most villages, once the novelty of ‘being new’ had worn off, basically people left us alone and we them, apart from the odd one or two who will stop and chat over the fence or if we bump into them in the amenities in the next village.
The Horse Lady 6 properties down always waves or stops and I offered that her horse was welcome to graze on the verge outside our house anytime. She replied that we were equally welcome to any deposits he left for our rhubarb or roses.
She has said she will be sorry to see us go.
We gave up making friendships several years ago as those we had turned sour at the ‘N’ word when we couldn’t accommodate them as and when they expected. Since then, we have continued to be sociable (it’s not only Maggie being socialized on our walks you know!), chatty and friendly, but have kept most people at arm’s length.
Yet today, casual acquaintances have passed on their best wishes for our future when some deal with hundreds, if not thousands of customers every day.
People will always amaze me. Totally unpredictable and erratic, a bit like the media reception here when it’s been raining!
pensitivity101 
Pingback: Curiosity | pensitivity101