New in town

Lovely downtown Northampton underwent a lot of changes while I was gone. I just discovered a couple of days ago that I have a whole new set of upstairs neighbors. Interesting lot this bunch. A couple of young girls and a guy named Ken who looks to be close to my age. He has a bald head except for a long grey ponytail growing out of a circle in the back of his head. They're a little noisy so far but I assume they're still moving in and hope they settle down in a while.

Luna Pizza is almost finished renovating the old Meyers Eatery space while the two Asian places on my block of Main Street have mysteriously ceased working on their spaces at all. Perhaps they finally got around to counting how many other Asian restaurants we already have in this town. The work on Fitzwilly's new addition is also moving rather slowly for the amount of space they're working on and is still not completed. The most disconcerting change however was at the grocery store. They're renovating and they moved everything.

I go to the local Stop and Shop for my "big box" items because it's a local franchise and it's still a smallish store. Imagine my dismay when I pushed through the entrance to find the new layout. I stopped dead in my tracks and stared. I almost turned around and walked back out.

A woman passing by offered comfort. She patted my arm and said, "It's not as bad as it seems. Everything is still pretty much in the same place." I looked at her incredulously. I thought, excuse me but I'm looking at a cereal isle that was definitely not there a month ago. Still I managed to thank her gracefully and plunged into the abyss.

It was most confusing and I was clearly not the only one distressed over this development. I kept crossing paths with a tiny elderly woman who was shopping alone and walking around gazing at the shelves with a look of absolute horror that completely echoed my internal state. The worst part is by the time we get used to this setup, the renovations are likely to be completed and they'll change it all over again.

Meanwhile it's a gorgeous afternoon and the colors are finally just beginning to turn so I'm off for a couple of errands and a short foliage tour.