Today we got to work downstairs at the museum. Although I find a lot of the items interesting, I am always most impressed and fascinated by the handwritten documents, personal letters, written receipts, diaries, legal notices...the objects we marvel at are nothing without the people who used them and these documents are what, to me, make them so human. They have nicknames for each other, they express love, sadness, anger, they pay big money for the things that will help their families flourish. Sometimes the writing is so faded or scribbled that it is almost impossible to read, but these are even better. There is mystery in them, you have to try to piece together the puzzle. What are they talking about? The best though is when you find items separated from each other that are related to each other. Or something that discusses a story you already know. Most of our artifacts at the museum are civil war era. So many families have held onto so much from that time period. This was the war fought in their own backyards. The war that made war so real. I could not imagine handing over that kind of sentimental history to a stranger, but I'm so glad some one could so that I am able to enjoy it.
Of course, I don't enjoy all of it. There are also a whole lot of farm tools that flat out scare me. In particular is a thing called a horn cutter. It was literally used to chop the horns off of livestock. It is massive and, like a lot of the tools, looks far more like a torture device than a tool, but what is the worst about it is that it still has a tuft of fur caught in it. I try hard not to notice it, but it makes my skill crawl to think of where that came from. Can you imagine being that animal? I understand that in reality, these things needed to be done, but I wish I didn't have to know about them. Some are just scary, even if their purpose isn't. Something we documented today was a block of wood with a ridiculous amount of steel blades poking straight out of it. Make it worse by noting that they were severely rusted blades. All it was used for was for brushing flax for linen, but I hated touching it. It's these kinds of things that make me miss the library...
As for life in a small town, I'm getting a little more used to it. At least, I'm learning more about it and how other people live in it. You can never expect a conversation to be short and you can always expect some one to look at you like "now who the hell are you." Have I mentioned there are cows right outside the museum? That was a pretty big surprise the first day they were out. I can't figure out where they go when they aren't in that field. There is no barn and only a few seemingly residential only houses around it...well and off course the historical society, the courthouse, and the church that make up our little corner of town. Oh, we also learned today that all three school levels are housed on the same property with just one parking lot. It is so weird to imagine what it would have been like to grow up there. I can't really decide if I would have liked it or not. I love being able to walk just about anywhere I need to go, but I like my anonymity a little too much I think. Sometimes I really like being recognized, sometimes all I want to do is be another face in the crowd and I like being in control of when I do what. I don't think that would be very possible in a place like this.
I'm also settling into my new apartment. Teddy is just too cute when he sits in the loft and just peeks over the edge. I do have at least one roommate, which I was not too pleased to discover (I was expecting to be alone here), but she's nice and quiet and we frankly have only crossed paths once so far so I don't think it will be that much of a problem. I am more and more excited at the thought of really being alone with a whole apartment to myself. Here I really do have a living room and a bedroom for just me, I just really share a kitchen. It is really nice to sit on a couch and read instead of feeling confined to my bed. Teddy really likes the extra room and I think he might finally lose the little belly he's had for the last year thanks to the exercise he's finally getting from climbing up and down the ladder to the loft.
All and all, it's all coming together. I've still got a lot to uncover at work and a lot of unpacking to do at home, but I'm settling in.
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