Top two reasons

I’ve keep listening to the news, and even though it’s boring and annoying, I'm compelled like I would be to a slow-speed train wreck.  I’d like to quit, but I keep thinking something might actually happen. So far, no.  They talk almost exclusively about the economy, the republican presidential candidates, the economy, whether Obama’s failed, the scary picture of Michelle Bachmann as it relates to the economy, blah blah blah.   It doesn’t seem much like news, which I think of as a report on a previously unknown event. Lately, it’s more like boring people gossip – all the hearsay and speculation without the juice.  All of this long pre-ramble to get to the point, which is that I’m so cheesily grateful for my little town right now, for tons of reasons, but I’ll name just two.  And first, let me apologize, because I  think the “just plain folks” type stories are clichéd and tedious.  So forgive me in advance if this turns out that way.

Reason Number 1. We have a new farm stand that is entirely operated on the honor system.  It’s a tiny un-manned store that contains a variety of organic produce, handmade jewelry, and t-shirts in a trailer on the shoulder of a fairly busy road.  There’s a wicker basket for your money, and a notebook where you can leave a comment if you like.  The other day I went in with a $20 bill, and was able to make $13 in change from money in the basket. This just makes me happy.  That the owners trust us that much.  And as far as I can tell, we’re worthy of it.  Is this unique to our little town? It feels like such a friendly contrast to what’s going on in the other Washington, where everyone seems completely suspicious and miserly.  The other reason I love it so much is that it is exactly about 5 feet off of my normal commuting path and it takes less than a minute to shop there.

Reason Number 2: The second piano drop.  Wait, you haven’t even heard of the first one?   In 1968, an acid-loving man named Larry Van Over wondered what a piano would sound like if it were dropped from the sky, so he created a Woodstock-like festival and did just that.  Country Joe and the Fish came, as did about 3,000 spectators.  One of our friends lives on that property now, and unearths piano keys when she gardens.  But it turns out that the sound of a piano dropping from a helicopter isn't very impressive; louder than the sound of one hand clapping, but perhaps not as musical.  More like a “piano flop”, according to some.  (The piano drop, by the way, is listed as item #6 on the Chamber of Commerces’ “top ten reasons to move to Duvall.”  In case you were wondering, Item #10 is “the roundabout.”  Sad but true.)

At any rate, the reason that the piano drop is being discussed here today is because it will be re-enacted on Sunday.  But rather than one acid-tripping hippy organizing it, this one is sponsored by Safeway.  I can’t decide if that means that the Safeway here is way cooler than the others, or if the piano drop isn’t as cool as we have all been lead to believe.  Here’s a before pic of the piano that my son texted me earlier today.  I’ll see if I can get an after picture.