One locally sourced rubber chicken

For years now I have walked by the window display at our local Five-and-Dime store and said to myself, "One day, I'm going to buy one of those rubber chickens." I don't know, there's just something marvelous about this throw-back of a store keeping company out here with the yoga studios and tony restaurants and keeping the rubber chickens right in the front as if they were the very thing you might want. Yes the store is full of unnecessary plastic junk but they carry a couple of hard-to-find items that are actually useful like mitten clips-- ever try looking for those? Well, look no more! They have 'em at Balich 5 & 10! And they also have reporter notebooks which fit my purse exactly and help me preserve the illusion that I am actually going to jot down nuggets of genius at random moments during the day. And yarn. And sleds. And measuring spoons!

And they have, as I said, rubber chickens hanging upside down in a row in the front window like China Town, only plastic and they still have the heads on. So I finally went in this past week and said, "One rubber chicken, my good man!" or something to that effect, and the very nice owner got out his ladder and fetched me down one. I felt that self-congratulatory warmth that suburbanites get from supporting local, family-owned businesses, and now "Robbie" is part of our home. It's hard to remember a time when he wasn't here.