Coming Home to Community

The Ozark Soul Journal

September – Week Three

Coming Home to Community

Welcome.

Pull up a chair for a little while. The coffee’s warm, the porch is quiet, and there’s always room for one more neighbor.

This past week has been a busy one, but it’s been the kind of busy that leaves you smiling when you finally sit down at the end of the day.

Last weekend found me at the Old Time Farm Festival in Cabool, Missouri.

After spending so much of the hot part of the summer traveling for pet transport, it felt good to be back at a festival, standing behind my table, visiting with people, and sharing Country Bathworks with my community.

One of the things I appreciate most about these events is that you never really know who is going to stop by.

Some people come because they love handmade soap.

Some are looking for a particular scent.

Some are shopping for a gift.

And every now and then, someone walks up and starts a conversation that reminds me exactly why I chose to make products the way I do.

I had several customers at the festival who could relate to my decision to offer Alpha-Gal-friendly products.Those conversations mean a lot to me.

There’s something different about talking with someone who doesn’t have to explain why they’re looking for a particular kind of product because they already understand.

Then there was the little boy who wasn’t actually at my table—but he became part of one of my conversations anyway.

A grandmother stopped by looking for deodorant for her seven-year-old grandson.

Now, that got me thinking.

Seven years old? I don’t remember deodorant being anywhere on my radar when I was seven.

As far as I can remember, I was much closer to twelve or thirteen before deodorant became part of my daily routine.

Apparently, times have changed.

My own grandson is seven, and he’s recently decided that he needs deodorant, too. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.

I suppose children have a way of keeping us aware that the world doesn’t always change at the pace we expect it to.

The Cabool festival was also the first event where I officially introduced my new deodorant and mango butter lip balm.

There’s always a little excitement—and maybe a little nervousness—when you put something new on the table for the first time.

Will people like it?

Will they be interested?

Will they come back looking for it?

I truly enjoy the questions customers have and the engagement from the products I create.

That’s another benefit of being at a festival. I get immediate feedback, can explain what I make, answer questions, and listen to what people are actually looking for.

You don’t get quite the same experience sitting behind a computer screen typing out the information in a way that a buying customer can only imagine the product would be.

That’s one of the reasons I enjoy these events so much.

They’re about people.

They’re about conversation.

They’re about discovering something new and sometimes discovering that you have more in common with a stranger than you expected.

And speaking of community…

I was reminded of that again during the week when I stopped at our local café for a hamburger and fries. It wasn’t supposed to be anything special.

Just lunch.

But in a small town, you should probably know better than to think you’ll simply eat and leave.

I ran into some friends of the community I hadn’t seen in a while, and before long, lunch turned into a visit.

We caught up on what everyone had been doing, what was happening around town, and all the little things I’d missed while spending so much time on the road and in my soap room.

It made me realize just how much of my own community I’ve missed.

When you’re constantly traveling, it’s easy to think you’re simply away for a few days.

Then you come home and realize you’ve missed a birthday, an event, a new business opening, a community gathering, or a conversation you would have normally been part of.

That’s one of the things I’m looking forward to most as Country Bathworks moves into fall.

I’ll still be traveling some. But I’ll also be spending more time at local festivals, meeting people, catching up with familiar faces, and becoming a little more involved in the community around me.

I think that’s very important.

A business can be built online.

A product can be ordered from my website.

But community?

Community takes showing up. It takes sitting down over a hamburger. It takes stopping to visit. It takes asking someone how they’ve been and actually listening to the answer.

It takes being present.

That’s something I’ve been reminded of over and over again this year.

The next stop on the Country Bathworks fall calendar will be Pioneer Days in Mountain View on September 26.

I’ll be bringing some new things along with me there, including the Ozark Mist hair product and three varieties of shampoo bars with matching conditioner bars.

So there’s plenty happening behind the scenes as I prepare for the next event.

But for now, I’m grateful for the people I met at Cabool Farm Fest.

I’m grateful for the new vendor friends.

I’m grateful for the customers who shared their stories.

And I’m especially grateful for a simple hamburger and fries that turned into an afternoon of catching up with people I hadn’t seen in far too long.

Sometimes coming home isn’t just about pulling into your driveway.

Sometimes it’s about finding your way back into the community around you.

And I’m happily blessed to be finding my way back.

Until next Friday…

Take a little time this week to stop and visit with someone you haven’t seen in a while.

You never know how much you’ve both missed the conversation.

— Your neighbor in the Ozarks,

Granny Sherry

Country Bathworks