We stayed in small town USA this past weekend, and that is a little unusual for us. We are normally on the road, driving five hours east, back to KC, and then returning five hours west at the end of the weekend. But not this time.

This time, we enjoyed a quiet early Sunday morning, walking to pancakes at the local restaurant on the highway. On our walk, we talked about the gift of snow crunch, and of small town quiet with streets untouched after an overnight snow. We talked about the beauty of creature tracks and warm gloves. We talked about the privilege of attending church and how we miss our own.

We also enjoyed the experience of 3 1/2 hours at a small town auction. Oh my, the characters. And the stuff. Where did all this stuff come from? As we sat in our chairs, we watched the auctioneer family attempt to peddle a wedding dress, nicely displayed:

“She paid over $500 for this! Let’s start the bidding at $200!”

Mind you, the audience of no more than 30 people were old farmers in coveralls, or local guys and ladies who are past the marryin’ years, or kids hanging out for the chili dogs in the concession area, and there was a whole lot of camouflage.

No bidders.

“Who’ll give me $100?!”

Crickets. No one dared scratch their chin for fear of bidding unknowingly.

“$75. This is going to a good cause for the local grocery store! It’s a beautiful dress…a size 6, altered into a size 2!”

And then, Sam was Sam, and he blurted out, “That rules ME out!”

Oh, Sam.

We didn’t purchase that dress, although it was a bargain at $30, and we didn’t purchase a 5 foot tall metal chicken or Campbell’s soup mugs for 50, but we DID buy a duck. And a moose. And some metal signs. And we had a great time.

I THOUGHT my birthday was over, but when we arrived home on Saturday late afternoon, there was a box at the front door with beautiful presents inside from a dear friend, my employer. And then this morning, another box arrived on our kitchen porch – and inside was a new Bible from my baby girl, Katrina! Loved, I feel. And I am grateful.

We spent time working on little things that take lots of time – and when I say “we,” I actually mean “Sam.” He wired outlets, hung a sign, worked on the fireplace, re-calibrated the new grandfather clock I think I will name Mortimer, and I cleaned up the laundry room and began rearranging and arranging dishes in the china cabinet and in the new kitchen cabinets. It was so good to just be, to create in our new home, to work together on the little things.

While we wait on a baby to arrive, while we wait on the winter bitter to ease its grip, while we wait on dinner to make itself, we will take long early morning walks in the silent snow and pause to enjoy the characters of small town USA and count our blessings as we count the dishes, one by one. Loved, we are, and we are grateful.