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Small Town Discovery

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Athol, MA
Small Town Discovery

We retired in 2022 and travel the USA in an RV. Sharing our love of unique small towns and places, and promoting kindness is our mission.
(3)

Join us-there is always room for one more-you just need to move the beagle!!

06/08/2026

There are a lot of unique southern things that took some getting used to. For example, when we first traveled into middle Georgia, I saw big signs saying GIN, in capital letters. I thought, "well, I am more of a wine gal, but I guess these people love their gin." Took me a few towns to realize the signs were for cotton gins! In New England, we had fuzzy winter boots. Down here we have snake boots, (luckily, they have not been put to the test!) In Massachusetts, in the winter, you would breath in and your nose froze shut. In Georgia, in the summer, my makeup melts-I have given up! We have also given up snow shovels, ice choppers, and roof rakes and we are learning how to trim the weeds from prickly pear cacti, having a war with fire ants and the other night I had a giant cockroach in the kitchen sink-yes, I screamed and told Paul we were moving back north! Some things are the same-New England has black flies & Georgia has gnats. Same annoying bug that serves no purpose except to get in your ears. Apparently, they think you are sweet. We much prefer the sweet goodness that both states are famous for. Massachusetts makes a killer Boston Cream pie (which is really a cake), and Georgia is known for their peach cobbler, which depending on the chef can also resemble a pie! Try both treats-you won't be sorry!

05/31/2026

WE MOVED INTO OUR HOUSE THIS WEEK!!! For those of you scratching your head and saying you thought we already did-well you are half right! We have been living in 2 places. Working at the house during the day & sleeping in the RV at the campground at night. It is only about 20 miles away. This week, the electrician installed a power box for the motorhome, and Paul & I got our bedroom set up so we were able to move in full time. It was very nice to sit on the porch in my grandma’s chair and put the pillows on the bed that the kids made me in “little people school”. Starting to feel like home🧡

05/25/2026

Every Memorial Day at 3pm, thousands of musicians from across the country play taps. It is a way for the country to honor the sacrifice of our brave military. We were humbled today to share this tradition at Andersonville National Historic Site.

05/24/2026

Another busy week at the homestead! Paul bought a lawnmower and got the yard looking nice. He also rode with our friend (& fellow author!) Christine Noyes back to Massachusetts where he rented a U-Haul. Christine & our daughter Krystel, helped him load up everything from our storage unit and it’s now back down here. Jared & Jett worked more brush magic and it looks awesome. I painted the office and some furniture. Brook just keeps giving us the “beagle groan” as her routine has been totally turned around 😂. Enjoy your week and don’t forget to honor those on Memorial Day that fought for our freedom.

05/23/2026

When I was a young child, Memorial Day was a big deal in our family. We spent days before at the cemeteries where relatives were buried. We would trim the grass around the headstones and then plant beautiful flowers. There were always other families there doing the same and conversations always led to the amount of black flies. We would dig in the dirt with one hand and swat bugs with the other. Memorial Day morning came early as the cemetery where my grandparents were buried was the first to have an honor guard and taps played by the local Veteran's group. We would stand as solemn as we could (the black flies did not let up) and listen to them honor fellow Veterans. I remember looking around and seeing old gravestones with flags, but no family left to honor them. Soldiers that had served hundreds of years prior were not forgotten by the local American Legion. As a small child, I used to imagine them, in their coffins, returning the salute.

Fast forward to my kids growing up. We still went to the cemeteries and planted flowers. We still swatted bugs, but I didn't take them to the services. I wish now that I did. We had a cemetery near our house and a soldier was buried there from the Revolutionary war. His headstone read that he marched with General Washington. We thought that was a pretty big deal, so he always got flowers too.

This year, all I am hearing on the radio and seeing on television is Memorial Day sales, deals on cookout supplies and how this weekend "kicks off summer". That's all exciting, but I hope it doesn't get lost in the real meaning of the day. I am optimistic that there are still families planting flowers, swatting bugs and remembering those who served this country. If you are headed to a cemetery this year-thank you. There just might be a long forgotten soldier saluting you.

05/17/2026

More progress on the house this week! We have 2 new BFFs-meet Jared & Jett. We hired Jared to clean all the brush around the fence and repair the fence so Brook can finally go outside without a leash. He has been working super hard and Jett has been supervising. Paul spent most of the week being "project supervisor", he has been researching contractors and coordinating jobs. We got our septic tank pumped-happy homeowner!! He also spent time repairing the fireplace wall. I did more painting & Brook...well-she just keeps trying out chairs like Goldilocks!

05/16/2026

Something to ponder...what if we all walked around with a time clock that showed how many years, days, hours, minutes, & seconds we had left in our life. Would we treat each other differently? Would we live our lives differently? Would you want the option of not knowing how much time you had left? Would we take time to be kinder?

If you walked into your local coffee shop and saw that the clerk only had two weeks and 10 minutes left, would you still complain about the coffee, or would you tell him/her how much you appreciate the job they do? If you knew the teenager next door was down to 3 days, would you still scream at him to turn his music down while he washed his car, or would you take him over a cold water, and ask him about the song he was listening to? What if your annoying co-worker only had 5 years of life left. Would you still roll your eyes, or would you try to understand them. When does empathy kick in?

We all understand death, but we live like no one has a time clock. We know we should spend more time with the people we love, but we put it off thinking there will be time next week, next month, when the summer is over, when the kids are grown, when things quiet down-but the clock keeps ticking.

My biggest regret in life was not spending more time with my dad. Every time I was at his house, he would invite me to sit down and chat over coffee or iced tea. Ninety percent of the time I didn't because I was too busy. When he died suddenly, I wished I had known that his clock was running out.

Some how we all need to find the balance of taking care of our busy lives while still being humbled by the gift of life. We all see the posters that read "live like you are dying". and "tomorrow is never promised". We all acknowledge the sentiment but don't act on it. Maybe it's just human nature to complain to the coffee store clerk, yell at the neighbor and be disgusted with a co-worker. Maybe it's psychologically healthy to live like we have no time clock. But, take the time to sit and chat with your dad. It is priceless memories that turn time to solid gold.

05/10/2026

Last Sunday, we posted that we bought a house in middle Georgia, and a few of you messaged asking why we picked Georgia. Well, first of all, the kids are all on the East Coast. I need to know that in an emergency, I can jump in the car & drive! Secondly, Paul didn't EVER want to shovel snow again. That sort of narrowed us down to Middle Georgia, Florida and some of South Carolina. We were not fans of the high home owners insurance in Florida. I could easily have settled in North Georgia-hilly, hiking trails, green...sort of "New Englandy", but it snows! Middle Georgia has beautiful farmland, small towns, super nice people, and only 2 hours to the ocean. Now that we have explained, here is the sweat equity on the house this week!

05/09/2026

When we were young, our daily goals were pretty self absorbing, - have a friend over, ride our bike, go to the playground or listen to music all day. We would wake up on a Saturday morning with our whole day planned. Life was simple and good. Fast forward to high school and college where our daily goals were more about finishing a paper, studying for a test, or getting our hair just right for a special date. Then came jobs, homes & family obligations. The goal was to keep breathing amidst all the chaos. It was a challenge to figure how little sleep we needed, and how much coffee it took to accomplish everything that needed to get done. I remember the back of my car being full of sports equipment, Gatorade and peanut butter crackers. Many times I felt like a hamster on a wheel. If I didn't think about all I needed to do, and just kept running, I would some how get there.

Then we retire and life seems to stop and do a complete 360 degree turn. We are back to life being simple and good. If we want to spend the day with a friend, read a book. or travel-done. Where it gets tricky, is not having a daily goal, or a purpose. It's important for our physical and mental health to have something to look forward to. It can be big or small, but it needs to be a part of our routine to make a plan-to find purpose. As my Mom got older, she told me that she refused to just "sit in the chair & grow cobwebs and wait to die". She kept that mantra right up until the end- walking, visiting with friends, traveling, baking and mailing handwritten letters. This weekend I am going to create both inside and outside. I am planting flowers that repel bugs and making a live edge table. When I get done, I probably won't win any awards from Better Homes & Gardens but I will have a reason to jump out of bed and put my brain to work. Like my Mom, I refuse to grow cobwebs -purpose breathes life.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you still running on the hamster wheel and those of you that have slowed down. Enjoy your special day.

05/04/2026

What happens when you let two old folks loose on the town? Yup, we bought a house! Let me catch up those of you that are new to our page. Paul & I owned a small business in a small town in Massachusetts. We retired in December of 2021 and in February of 2022, hit the road in our motorhome. In January of 2025, we sold our house in Massachusetts. We have traveled to all but 6 of the continental U.S. states. As we have traveled, our mission has always been to share small towns and small businesses with you. We know how hard they fight to be noticed. Our small town discoveries led us to a great house in the tiny town of Pineview, Georgia-population 477. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, hardwood floors and 2.75 acres. I am happy that it has no stairs, Paul is thrilled that he has a workshop again and Brook can't believe she has a fenced in yard! We will still be living in the motorhome while we do some painting & renovations. So what happens with our travels? To be honest, we aren't sure yet. We tend to let life happen as it happens and don't plan too far ahead. We definitely will be traveling again, just not right away. While ya'll are waiting for us to discover new small towns, we hope you'll get a chuckle out of two old folks "starting over". A huge thanks to our realtor-Kimberly Amos for finding us a wonderful new home. It's never too late to begin again!

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