Gratitude, Day 11

Well, today being the second Tuesday of the month is a Schwan's day. I am so grateful for Schwan's. I borrowed the photo two paragraphs below from Schwan's website. Chicken pot pie is my favorite meal... that and egg rolls. They used to have really good quesadillas but they changed them and I don't like them at all any more. Too bad... they were really good. But anyway...

When I first moved to Hancock, I found someone to shop for me for a modest fee every three or 4 weeks. The first person I found was nice enough but very unreliable. Then I discovered Jen who had just moved here with her husband. They were trying to set up a business and were struggling to survive. She did my groceries, helped me with some other chores and she and her husband ended up painting my little house it's lovely green color for a very modest price. In my backwards world, Jen - who was working for me for offensively little money - actually ended up giving me a beautiful set of dishes which I treasure. My world got upgraded from plastic to china by the person buying my groceries for me for almost no money. Eventually, Jen found a real job and one of my friends took over and shopped for me when she could. I was eating vegetarian at the time so I could fit a lot of veggie burgers in the freezer. I supplemented these other things with netgrocer.com, but that's a cumbersome and expensive way to operate.

I had heard of Schwans but had just assumed that they would not come here to the middle of nowhere. Imagine my surprise to discover that they have hundreds of customers in my little town. When I think about it, it makes sense. Our grocery store is overpriced and awful both. But I digress. I'm so grateful that I now have a safe and reliable source of food. I don't need to worry about being an extra burden to my friends. I don't need to worry that the winter weather will leave me starving. Schwan's is like the post office.... neither rain nor hail... Tom arrives every other Tuesday and brings me food. Angel adores him and would run away with him if I let her. Tara also hovers around for attention, which she doesn't do with just anybody.
Maybe in an ideal world, it would be better if I had fresh vegetables every day, but this is the next best thing and it takes a huge worry off my shoulders and the shoulders of my friends. They supplement my Schwan's with Soy Silk and bananas and other treasures from time to time, but they don't need to worry about me or feel responsible in any way for my continued survival.

As a major league, hard core agoraphobic, I am so grateful too for the internet which allows me to keep my cats fed and littered. I buy a bulk order every few months and UPS delivers it to my door. And I love Amazon.com. I keep my eye peeled for good bargains. Last month I got myself a year's supply (maybe longer) of garbage bags at a fantastic price. Now I don't have to worry about running out and even though there was a big price up front, ultimately, it's a great savings. Got some cool organic soup that day too as a break from Schwan's. And they had mouthwash cheaper than drugstore.com. The trick with all these places is to watch for sales and buy enough bulk to get free shipping.

So anyway, Schwan's, Amazon.com, internet shopping in general (done carefully), UPS... all these are such a gift for someone like me. They help me be independent and not burden my friends too much. So today I'm grateful for all those things.

And I'm grateful too for the beauties of the new winter season which is coming upon us. I miss the greens of spring and summer and the vibrant colors of autumn, but there is beauty in winter's starkness too.