GONE SHOPPING!
Off I would drive, on my way to Bismarck or Grand Forks or Minot or Fargo or Devils Lake or Jamestown (and sometimes to Anamoose).
I was making the rounds of the best of the garden centers that Spring in North Dakota brings.
I WAS SHOPPING!!!
The shopping wasn't for myself, although I have to say I got a great deal of enjoyment out of it.
I was shopping for my people.
I was shopping for the people of my little town, Small Town USA.
And it was just flat out FUN!
I knew what I was looking for, and I looked high and low until I found what I wanted, what MY PEOPLE wanted.
Then I bought the best.
I searched out the strongest, healthiest plants I could find, bought them, loaded them up, and hauled them home for my people.
One of the best memories of my life is pulling up in front of my little shop, opening the back of my vehicle, and beginning to unload the treasures of my shopping trip.
From out of nowhere I had all kinds of help!
A time or two I had to go straight back out shopping again the next day, as the inventory never even made it into the shop. Tell me THAT isn't the meaning of FUN!
The thing is that I knew my people, knew what they wanted, and did my best to see to it that they got it - and they knew ME. They knew that I would inspect just about every plant in those big garden centers to get the best available ... and bring it home to them. If someone wanted something specific, they would tell me and I would go on the hunt for it.
Once in a great while I would spy something out of the ordinary and bring it back just for the sheer joy of getting to look at a thing of special beauty for a little while before it went to someone's home.
No I didn't make my fortune, but I made something even better.
I made beautiful memories.
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