Sometimes Life Doesn’t Slow Down

The Ozark Soul Journal

August – Week Three

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.

Well, this week has been one of those weeks where I’m not entirely sure where the days went.

I made it home safely from my last pet transport route on Thursday, and by the time I walked through the door, I already had a long list of things waiting for me.

Thankfully, all the supplies I had ordered while I was away arrived within a couple of days. That meant there was really no excuse to sit around and rest for too long.

So, I got to work.

For the last four days, I’ve been in my little production room making soap.

Some of it is for the regular Country Bathworks line, and some of it is getting ready for the fall season. There is something satisfying about seeing those loaves lined up and knowing that, in a few weeks, they’ll be ready to make their way into someone’s home.

I’ve also been working on the new deodorant for the upcoming product launch.

Before I introduce something new, I like to let people I trust try it first. So, I passed a few samples along to family members. Now I’m waiting to hear what they think.

There’s always a little excitement that comes with introducing something new.

Will people like it?

Will they find it useful?

Will it become one of those products they come back looking for?

I suppose I’ll find out soon enough.

In between batches of soap, I’ve also been busy getting ready for fall.

I’ve spent time online getting all of my September vendor events scheduled, and I’m still working on finding and preparing for the fall events that will fill in the spaces between them.

September is shaping up to be a busy month.

And somewhere in the middle of all that work, I managed to do something that had absolutely nothing to do with soap.

While I was out on the road, I stopped at a little farm stand in Arkansas.

I came home with eight watermelons.

Now, there are only two of us in this house, so clearly I wasn’t planning on eating eight watermelons.

I kept one for my hubby and me, then started handing the others out to friends and neighbors.

And you know what?

That turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the week.

I got to knock on doors, visit with people, hand them a watermelon, and catch up for a few minutes.

It reminded me of something I think we sometimes forget.

Not every reason to stop by someone’s house needs to be important.

Sometimes you just have a watermelon, and that’s reason enough.

Saturday brought another little piece of community when I stopped by our local farmers market.

I picked up some fresh green beans and red onions, but what I really enjoyed was seeing everyone and having a chance to slow down and visit.

That’s one of the things I love about living here.

You can go to the farmers market intending to buy a few vegetables and come home feeling like you’ve spent the morning catching up with half the town.

Those little conversations are part of what makes a community feel like home.

And now, as I sit here thinking about everything that needs to be done, I’m already preparing to leave again.

I’ll be heading out on another pet transport route.

This one will take me through Mississippi, over to Kansas, then on to Kentucky and Michigan before I eventually make my way back home again.

That’s a lot of miles.

A lot of states.

A lot of time behind the wheel.

But somewhere along those miles, I’ll probably find myself thinking about soap again.

I’ll wonder how the batches are curing with my new dehumidifier.

I’ll think about the fall scents waiting for me when I get home.

I’ll probably make a mental list of everything that still needs to be done or at least get a list started in my notes app.

And I’ll remind myself that somewhere in all this busyness, there are people waiting to discover something I’ve made with my own hands.

Maybe that’s what this season of life is teaching me.

Sometimes life doesn’t slow down just because we need it to.

Sometimes we simply learn to find the good moments tucked inside the busy ones.

A watermelon shared with a neighbor.

Fresh green beans from the farmers market.

A conversation that lasted longer than expected.

A new product taking shape.

Cut bars of soap waiting patiently to cure.

The knowledge that, no matter how many miles I travel, there is a little production room waiting for me when I get home.

So, if your week feels a little scattered too, maybe that’s okay.

Look around.

There may be something good hiding right in the middle of it.

Until next Friday…

May you find a few quiet moments tucked between the busy ones.

Also, if you happen to have a watermelon to share with a neighbor, well…

I’d say that’s a pretty good reason to stop by.

— Your neighbor in the Ozarks,

Sherry

Country Bathworks