small town life.

Small Town Ontario. This is a town I grew up in but I often forget what it is like to live in a small town and the daily events that make the paper. Small towns always have their eccentricities and an example was this weekend. My younger brother and his buddies came back to town to participate in the annual Plunger Toss contest.  Yes, it is what it sounds like. A bunch of people throwing toilet plungers into empty toilets that stand in a field. You get points depending on where in the toilet the plunger lands. 10 points if it stands upright in the hole. Keep in mind that this competition takes place outside and today it was -22 C. That did not seem to deter anyone. My brother left all layered up this morning and came back 12 hours later as the grand prize winner. He and his team even had their picture taken and will make it onto the front page of the local paper.
These type of events make me smile. Its seems funny to me that these type of events are a big deal but they are. Its these silly kind of things that I will miss. Having lived in larger urban areas for the last 8 years, I am used to locking up everything and keeping a close eye on my purse, children or any belongings. I seem overly paranoid here when nobody else locks there doors and all the neighbours know each other and recently, this town was (supposedly) deemed the safest community in Canada (or Ontario??) by McClain magazine.
(That is until the other night when my mother saw someone trying to break into our car which resulted in her calling the police and all the neighbours having a chat over the phone about it the next morning-and Police cruisers driving down the street in front of the house an hour after she called.)
I forget how big of a deal this is. It is refreshing in alot of ways to be in a slower paced community that is looking out for their neighbours and enjoys participating in community events.
Having lived in an area with fairly high crime rates and lots of drug trafficking, I forget what it is like to live this way again.
We have enjoyed our time here (other than the temperature). The kids are settling in nicely and we are ready to go. We had an open house today to say goodbye to friends and family. We were privileged to be here when one of my closest friends had their baby and it was nice to be able to bring them lunch at home a few short hours after the birth and see the new baby. Just to be around with life happening. So this is where we are for a few more days until we head out into a major metropolitan centre.