It’s still dark out!

Yes at 5 in the morning it is.    One of the advantages of what I call my “suburban within urban” location is that some place to buy what you need is open really early in the morning or even 24 hours a day.

After the 40 minutes or so on the Lifecycle at the Y (which opens at 5 and where I get my heart rate up and my sweat opening my pores or doing whatever sweat does) I can go shopping.    At the 24 hour Walmart.

 I admit it.  I am one of those snooty planner types.  I used to disparage Walmart.  Cheap stuff.  Big Box Bad. It will kill (what?) downtown? ---all of that. 

But these days as a time-and-dog-home-“significant-other”-bound senior citizen on a pension  (one of those issued “before”), I have come to appreciate Walmart.  It’s open before the sun is up—heck its always open.  There are parking spaces.  The guys and gals working there at 6 a.m. are friendly-at-dawn people.   They chat and tease each other and smile at me and offer help and  “good morning.”  

And the selection of groceries these days is really pretty good! 

Try the Great Value ground coffee! – this is coming from a grind-it-yourself woman.

Check out the price of bananas.  Are they really different from the bananas at  “Earth Grown (where else?)” or whatever they call Boney’s these days?

I check labels.  Wherever I go.  (Minimize the high fructose corn syrup.) Save some things for the Farmer’s Market.  Try to park at Trader Joe’s once a week or so.) But I don’t turn up my nose or refuse to mingle with the ordinary folks looking for deals any more. 

Besides that, I can get the other stuff I need without making extra trips.  Mouthwash.  Rug shampoo.  New sweatpants for the Y. (From the men’s department because I like pockets and the $6 price.) The sales tax for those goes to my local government.

I am home by 6:45 or 7.  The sun is just up.  I’ve sweated.  I’ve shopped. The Great Value Coffee is hot.  The dog and the “significant other” are still sound asleep and don’t even know they are being ignored.  And the rest of the day is ahead.