October is the month of plenty of pork, for a long time was the month for hog slaughtering on farms. Usually this month pork prices are the lowest of the year.
I went to two grocery stores today. Sausage was on my shopping list. Walmart (main instigator of the shortages?) has had more foods in stock than I've seen in years but had virtually no sausage. A few packs of patties or links but no rolls of sausage at all.
Went to another regional chain store. They had more but not a lot. only three or four rolls of one brand. And the price was sky high. It was about $3 a roll a couple of weeks ago. Today it was $4.49.
This store always has pork chops for a great price in October. I didn't look at the prices but nothing was on special and I haven't seen any on sale all month.
Higher prices on any meat isn't a shock but why the dearth of sausage in a month when pork is usually more plentiful than any other time of year?
Nothing within a mile of my house except trees, farms and mountains. I did have three wild turkeys mosey across the road in front of me yesterday. I said I could have shopped for Thanksgiving. No stores closer than 25 miles from me. That's Walmart. If I drive another five miles or so, the regional chain. After driving 25 miles through country roads, I often don't feel much like crawling through town to get to the other store.
And at least at Walmart I don't have to make yet another drive to get to the hardware store or the dollar store for non food items. Believe me, I'm no Walmart fan but I'm no fan of driving all over hell's half acre to shop either. Some of it is probably just enjoying pulling liberal chains when they ask where I got this, that or the other and I say, "Walmart." Then they go into the usual pompous rant. They'd probably faint if they went into Rural King, where I actually found little led lights that clip onto a baseball cap brim.
If I have time, I drive another 15 miles to the town where there are more stores closer together and the butcher shop for meat, farm stand for produce, all close by.
No turkeys here, but we have had deer, raccoons, possums, foxes, and bears in our yard. The back of my property goes to the center of a swamp, so I wouldn't be surprised to see an alligator in my back yard someday.
I hope you know that manufacturers cut corners on the products they send to Walmart in order to meet Walmart's price demands. I know of a guy who bought a printer there. It was a name brand. It was lacking an advertised feature. He called support, and they told him that the ones they sent to Walmart didn't have that feature so they could meet Walmart's demands. So he was SOL.
The only major shopping centers in my general vicinity are in the next state and around an hour drive each way. It's over a hour for me to drive to a store where I can pick out clothes that I can wear. I went in a Walmart once, and the only thing they had that I could wear was socks. I also have to drive an hour to get to a book store.
No alligators but all of the above plus weasels. I have my own swamp too but nothing bigger than snakes and turtles in there. The bears here are a PITA. A neighbor finally got a bear dog to chase the last one over the mountain.
I don't buy things like printers from Walmart. I usually mail order anything like that. Same here for malls, clothes, shoes although we do have TJMaxx about an hour away and I shop there a lot. And an orthotic shoe store because I have to have good shoes or I can't walk. That's another reason why I try to cut down the number of store stops. Too much walking and I can barely make it back to the car.
I can't buy socks at Walmart. Mis-sized Chinese junk that one sock fits and the other would fit a five year old. I rarely buy paper books any more, I use a Kindle, donated all my books to the library. Saved lots of space used by bookcases. The Kindle is easier on my eyes and I can change the font size. I'm probably a lot older than you.
Most of my books aren't available electronically. I like having my books. I like the way they look and smell. Most of mine are non-fiction as well. I don't intend to buy anything to go in place of the books, so they really aren't taking up any valuable space.
I used to buy printers at the local office store, but in recent years, they decided to quit actually stocking any large items. They only have store displays, and you have to order what you want. So I order online and get free delivery to my front porch.
You might be surprised at how old I am. As just a hint, there were only 48 states when I was born, and I remember when Alaska and Hawaii came in. The flag went straight from 48 stars to 50. I quit work almost 20 years ago. I got tired of micromanagement and went Galt.
I live far enough away from town that if I hear gunshots, I don't worry. I know it's just neighbors practicing.
One amazing thing I saw this week is the fields where corn was recently harvested are growing a volunteer crop of corn that's over a foot tall now.
I was like you about books until my eyesight went downhill. I'd be astonished if you can't find pretty much anything in Kindle version. I hope your eyes continue to be good.
I have to go to the city to find an office store and they're like you described. Not to mention their prices are awful now.
Same here with gunshots. In fact, so many hunt in September the schools are half empty and forget getting any work done like plumbing, electric, etc. Not just practice shooting. People here shoot their guns instead of fireworks on July 4, New Year, Christmas.
You do realize the time period when we had 48 states covers 47 years? Me too but I promise I wasn't born in 1913. LOL
I love living out here, it's so peaceful but it is a drive to go anywhere. Getting out can be bad in winter, depending on how fast and how well they plow snow or if there's ice. Large stretches of the only road are shaded, so ice and snow doesn't melt fast.
Only one place here where I've seen corn growing other than somebody's garden. It's too rocky in most places here in the mountains. Plenty of cornfields over the mountain. Maybe the crows in your area are slacking off. LOL