Today I was supposed to go with a group of students and staff from work on a visit to a local apple orchard. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but the short version is that I couldn't find the group and missed the trip. Alas.
But the up side to this misfortune was that suddenly I had the whole day free. I went home and finished grading quizzes, talked to my awesome friend, Josie, and then decided to go to the DeKalb Public Library to get my card and check out the lay of the land, and then go to find a padlock.
Yah, I need a padlock. Doesn't that seem like an item that I would have acquired at some point in life? But as it turns out, nope. I don't have any padlocks. I needed one to secure my storage space in the basement of my new apartment building, and though I considered picking one up at Wal-Mart, I opted for taking the retail version of the scenic route. On my first day here I got lost and saw Blain's Farm and Fleet in the process.
At the time it struck me with feelings that a huge store usually does not- warm fuzzies. Maybe it was the word "farm" in the name. Or maybe the multiple American flags out front? Not sure. But whatever the cause, the result was that "down home" feeling that I love so much. I get the same feeling when I sit in the poultry barn at the Allen County Fair, sweltering in the late-August heat, breathing in air that smells like chickens and sweat and fried food, and recognizing half of the people in the uncomfortable bleacher seats while I wait to hear how my niece's 4-H project chickens placed. It feels like home, only better because I've had not-home now, so I appreciate home more.
Anyway, when I decided to get the lock, I also decided to go back to the F&F. I don't think I've ever been to one of these stores, but I was expecting cross between a TSC (Tractor Supply Company, for the city-slickers among us) and a Home Depot. And I was not disappointed. I even took some pictures to document my journey.
As I entered the store, this sign greeted me:
Ah, yes, I thought to myself. This is going to be good. Nothing like a store that actually sells worms and grubs. That's country right there.
Armed with the thought that live bait was, in fact, within my reach, should I suddenly be overwhelmed with the urge to fish, I continued on my journey of discovery. Check this out:
Livestock Handling. Chuckling to myself at the memory of one of my city-friends telling me that she was afraid of cows, (which I find hilarious because my own experience with cows has been that they're pretty laid back creatures}, I snapped a shot. It was just a little awkward, with that guy in the shot. Maybe he was flattered. I'm just going to assume that he was.
I eventually found myself in the kids' area, where I stumbled upon this delightful item: baby-sized Carharts! You may remember my fondness for Carharts from a
previous post. But I don't think I'd ever seen such a tiny version, and being a woman, I found the tiny version just precious. And worthy of another picture.
See the tiny little logo patch?!?
And close to the mini-carhart section, I found these hee-larious little girl spades. Cause when you teach your daughter how to work in the garden, she'll probably be more excited about the whole thing if her tools are emblazened with the picture of a Disney princess. I get it.
And now the wrench picture. I had to take this one because it made me think of my Dad, as did many things in this store. The whole experience reminded me of Saturday afternoons in middle school and early high school, when I would occasionally accompany Dad to TSC or some obscure hardware store, tucked into an ally in Lima, or to a junk yard for part to fix something, or to a John Deere dealer in a neighboring town. If the time was right, we'd listen to Click and Clack on NPR. If you've never had the pleasure, I highly recommend catching an episode or two. They're hee-larious. It's a car show. And I like it. Nuff said.
Oh, so back to the wrenches. When my family helped move me into my apartment, I was found guilty of not owning a wrench. Apparently that is bad. Dad immediately added the offending tools to my list of needed items.
Later that afternoon when we were checking out of Wal-Mart with our two carts of stuff, I saw Dad's solution to my wrench problem. He had bought me not one, not two, but 13 wrenches. I'm not kidding. He got two sets of six each. I'm not sure what the difference is between the two sets, but they're different colors, so I'm assuming there is some difference of significance. And to round it out, he also bought an adjustable wrench, in case my needs were not covered by the other 12 sizes. At the time it seemed like the most wrenches I'd ever seen. But then this afternoon I saw this:
At least he didn't see the need to get me THIS ginormous set. I mean, that set is impresivo, right? Holy cow. Maybe this one's designed for mechanics? Or people who just really, REALLY like tools?
As we close out the conversation on wrenches, I should point out that I've already made use of the wrenches that Dad bought me. I used one to put my new IL license plates on my car. Thanks, Dad!
And what self-respecting store with the word "farm" in the title would think it possible to do business without selling something with the John Deere logo stamped on it? Far be it from Blain's Farm and Fleet to so much as think of such heresy. They're proudly displaying and selling their belief that, true to the hype, nothing runs like a Deere.
And check out this next picture. See? I told you farmers are the hardest working group of people I know. F&F agrees. Upon further reflection, I think that farmers are hard-working thanks to natural selection. Lazy farmers died out long ago.
And here I am, at the end of my journey, proudly displaying my two purchases: the padlock I had originally gone in for, and a timer for my lamp. The friendly, helpful (and cute) sales guy recommended this one. It has different settings for each day of the week! By golly, what'll they think of next?
I'll leave you with one last shot. This is across the street from the store. A Taco Bell and a corn field. If I ever write my own lyrics to the song, "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music, cornfields and Taco Bell will probably make the cut. As will Blain's Farm and Fleet. It gets two thumbs up from me.
