1) You can stand in line for your car registration and a livestock permit at the same time. It's different people in different offices, but the town hall is small enough that you can hang out in the middle and see who's free first.
2) If you have a Catch-22 vehicle registration/inspection situation that may leave a vehicle only marginally registered for few years, they ask if you're only planning on driving around town and suggest you probably won't get pulled over anyway.
3) They look at you a little funny when you ask about a Historic plate for a car that's only 21 years old. Evidently, "Antiques" are older here. "She's just now old enough to drink!"
4) Permitting is not only easier, it's not really required for all the things you think it would be. We're thinking about getting some goats, so I asked the Planning & Zoning guy what we need to do. "Well, first you'll need some goats. Have you talked to the lady over in Chester on that sustainable farm?"
5) There is little need for an economic development commission when everyone is so enterprising and helpful and resourceful. "You know there's a lady over on Union Road. She got some goats awhile back. Now she rents them out to neighbors with poison ivy and what not." Hunh.
6) The public comment period is open for proposed changes to town ordinances, tax codes and such. The bulletin board in the town hall boasts two hand-highlighted pages of plain-English that are stapled up for all to see (and surrounded by little waves made from colored construction paper.) Around the official notices are stapled hand-written "public comments" on personal stationary and notebook paper and monogrammed note cards.
7) An hour with a PhD arborist is free ($40 if it's more than an hour on Friday.) All trees on our four acre lot are now categorized as "good, bad or ugly." We now know the trees with the most fireplace-BTU potential, the cost of a lumber truck to come take our "stock" to the mill (and the pros and cons of the four local mills), and which "problem children" are mostly likely to "really mess up your chainsaw and your chipper."
8) We need some non-DIY tree work done along the road. I sort of groan when I hear a "detail" might be necessary to direct traffic around the lane while they work. "Oh, it's no big deal. You can go through the town and it's about $60/hour for a cop and a cruiser, but you could just contact the auxiliary. They'll usually send someone if you make something nice for their bake sale."
9) The guy across the street found a random wire hanging low over his driveway. Evidently a squirrel was playing Tarzan in some nearby grapevines and... Guess how long it took for a bucket truck and two guys (from the right company for the right wire) to come fix it? Sixteen minutes.
10) Instead of charities selling candy bars and magazine subscriptions, the folding tables outside the grocery store are occupied by members of the local grange handing out free magazines with articles on baking with (actual) whole grains and building your own solar heated water trough "so it doesn't freeze just as soon as you fill it."
Do you LOVE it, or what!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! Life is good!
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