A Solitary Wanderer # 1; the beginning

 

Our journey begins in a small hamlet, former village recently dissolved, on a bay along the edges of the mighty St. Lawrence River.  Currently, the year-round population of our little hamlet is just over 300 persons as of 2019.  Although I was not, my dad was born here in 1920, a more populated and prosperous river village of the time.  There was a Railroad depot and stockyard, a ferry to Canada, A milk processing plant, a graphite plant as well as being home to Dr. Morse's "Indian Root Pills."  A K-12 school sits atop the ridge which the village was built on.  A stone Windmill also sits up overlooking the River. There were, at one time, 5 gas stations and at least 3 grocery stores, one of which my grandfather was owner/proprietor, when my dad was born.  Our own U.S. Post office currently occupies the building where my grandfather's store was.  High atop the street leading from the river up and out of the village toward the State highway, on the  left was a hotel/dance hall called Rose Manor.

Today the village is a skeleton of it's former self, retaining only, of the aforementioned, the K-12 school, the stone windmill, the post office, a volunteer fire department, and a fuel and hardware supply store.  Still it retains the ambiance of a neighborly community with a landscape to delight the senses.  

To own or have access to a motorized vehicle of conveyance is a mandatory necessity here if only to enable one to travel the ten or more miles to avail oneself of certain amenities: gasoline, groceries, and healthcare.

I return from a six month hiatus in Florida to find a car with a dead battery, a home with few foodstuffs, and a doctor's appointment in 3 days requiring lab work prior.

Undaunted I proceed;  you know, the old adage concerning life, lemons, and lemonade.  Call a friend who is, BTW, a mechanic, and in a day and a half I have a reliable, drivable vehicle.  I research the local hospital's (12 miles away) website and glean that they have Saturday outpatient lab draws from 7 AM to noon.  Okeydokey, a plan forms; hit the lab at 7 then head to the grocery store and pick up items on my list.  And finally proceed to the nursery to purchase garden supplies.

In the car at 0645.  It starts.  Yay, it's gonna be a good day.  Walk into hospital receiving area;  Young woman asks, "what are you here for today?"

Me: showing her my lab request form, I say, "I'm here for lab work.

young woman: "The lab isn't open on Saturday."

Me: "You may want to mention to the higher ups that they need to update their web site."

Young woman: "Oh, they've been told many times."

Well now, isn't that a fine how-do-you-do?  Now that I've been handed a bowl full of lemons; what to do.  I head over to the grocery store and pick-up supplies.  I only forgot 2 items on my list of 15, which btw, I'd left on the counter a home.

Next, I stop at a local diner for a delicious omelet/wheat toast with tomato juice and coffee.  I skipped the garden center for today.  Now it's home to get ready to attend a local Bluegrass festival in a neighboring small village.

Tomorow we'll pick here, where we left off.