Of trees and hats

I have written before about being able to see trees from my windows. The same is true of this new home. The livingroom has a big picture window, in front of which is an ornamental tree, and a street lined with tall, full, leafy green trees. Over my other shoulder, the diningroom window is guarded by stately evergreens and towering leafy trees. (nts - learn names of trees) I sit here, serenaded by crickets madly rubbing their legs together in their end-of-summer symphony, feeling soothed and inspired by the bounty of beauty around me...while beside me sit five little peanuts and two absolutely exhausted Big People being entertained by the hilarious animated heroes of Ice Age III.

Let me tell you about a wonderful feature of Sohoe: cold granite stone ice cream. Here's what happens: fresh, small batch ice cream in assorted flavours await your selection. Then, laid out on cold granite, expert blenders add in your ingredient of choice - anything from standard sprinkles and candies, to seasonal fruit, to fresh-baked temptations, and using ice cream blending tools, they smoosh everything together, then put the fabulous result in a waffle cone. I've never tasted ice cream so flavourful, so custom-perfect for my palate...simply to-die-for. If you like ice cream.

You may not like ice cream, but prefer fruits of the forest or other offerings of the earth. They abound in Sohoe as well. Plucked fresh from tree, bush, or garden plot, and sold road-side in Thanksgiving Cornucopia quantities by Buddy himself. No steroids, no presevatives, in their natural shape and colour with all the flavour God intended them to have.

If entertainment is what you're looking for, may I suggest a 106 year-old carousel on the beach which you can ride for 5 cents? Or wine tasting at one of the many vineyards? Or risking life and limb at a local water park? Or jeopardizing your sanity on the main tourist drag of Sohoe's Natural Wonder of the World?

I have noticed in the different cities I've lived, that each region has it's own ubiquitous service/business. In one it was Canada's national supplier of legal addictive stimulants. In an other it was banks and tattoo parlours. Sohoe seems to specialize in nail salons and fudge. (very handy as I am in dire need of a good pedi!)

There also seem to be a fair number of churches, Christian academies, and Christian radio/tv stations. This, combined with the warm weather, farms resembling plantations, and beautiful tall trees makes me feel a bit like I live 'down South'. So you'll have to excuse me, y'all, if I start talking with a Southern drawl and drinking mint julips. It's a shame my head is far too large, 'cause I'd dearly like to wander the country lanes in a floppy hat.