Community
One of the things I love about living in Woodville is the community I have found in the everyday activities of life. At home as I sit on my porch or do yard work, I wave to passersby and sometimes have quick chats with them. They are the same people I run into later at the pharmacy or Town Square. Sometimes my walk to the Post Office collides with another pedestrian, and we greet each other and talk until our paths diverge.
My visits to monthly Town Board meetings introduce me to folks I later see as I shop at Treppendahl’s Grocery, pay my utility bill at Town Hall, or do business at a local attorney’s office. Conversations with a local shopkeeper turns into riding out to look at the new paint color on her house that results in a two-hour visit in her kitchen with her and her husband. My neighbor and I routinely share food items and stories and encouragement.
Early morning walks give me opportunities to visit with a local insurance agent, coffee drinkers on the bench outside L&M Bakery, and a couple of car detailers on Main Street. My lunches at the Orchard Cafe introduce me to local maintenance guys, city and town employees, tourists just passing through, and others like me who just love a good shrimp poboy.
While we haven’t moved yet from our church home back in Suburbia, we’ve had the opportunity to visit a couple of local churches and join a monthly Bible study that meets at the cafe. And, of course, the folks I’ve gathered with are some of the same people I’ve mentioned above. Knowing each other inside and outside the church walls makes inauthenticity a bit difficult, which leads, I think, to more people just keeping it real.
Small town life isn’t all sweet magnolias and mimosas, and there’s division here just like any other place. I think what curbs that division in small towns, however, is people coming face to face with each other frequently as they shop, eat, do business, and attend community events. When you get to know a person, you begin to see the commonalities we all share as humans--life and death, happiness and suffering, joy and sorrow.
Why Woodville? I love living in community with a variety of people. There’s so much for me to learn from such a diverse population!
