Mild Weather... 24º

Second day of the New Year....No resolutions made, just continue on day to day and as usual try to eat better (more healthy :-) ), exercise, be helpful and kind, laugh, cry only when I'm laughing, be more forgiving, love people for their good and overlook the things they do that drive me NUTS...Continue with my sorting but try not to fret and stew and get compulsive...Eat chocolate only at Arrowhead instead of every time I pass my pantry on the way to the bathroom, that does tend to add up...Arrowhead chocolate is sooooo good but the expense will definitely help me limit my intake...So today I will eat my last home made peanut cluster leftover from 2011, and that reminds me of a time long ago--

Our address in Lake Fork was Box 317, Lake Fork, Idaho...The year was 1950 and zip codes unheard of...My parents rented a box at the postoffice which was located inside the Lake Fork Mercantile...This store was a small country store like many others in each small town serving duel purpose...The store was privately owned and said owner was also the postmaster...Jess and Barbara Halderman were the owners and although Jess was the official PM, Barbara also handled the duties...The "Postoffice" was located in the back corner with a barred window http://www.pophistorydig.com/?p=9969 where mail could be slid back and forth under the bars...On a bulletin board next to it were the "Wanted Posters"...These wanted posters fascinated me and I searched each one of them maybe looking for a familiar face...I was able to reach our box and knew the combination, so would take great pride on being able to open our box and retrieve the mail...Near the PO was a barrel stove where people gathered after picking up their mail to catch up on the local news...A meat case nearby contained a "wheel" of mild cheddar cheese and also a "round" of bologna...Jess was very generous and if I looked longingly at the cheese and bologna he would open the back of the case and with a large knife slice off a small piece of each, lay it on a piece of butcher paper and hand it over the counter as I stood on tiptoe reaching for it...All of our families groceries were purchased at this store where we had a charge account...This account was paid at the end of each month and a special thank you for paying promptly was a bag of candy chosen by the customer...Choices were ribbon candy, hard candies with a soft filling, all-day suckers, caramels or peanut clusters...If Daddy was making the choice he always brought home peanut clusters, they soon became the family favorite....OWAV:)