Just sleep on it (but consider buying local)

Lyons Country Store, near Moncton, offers everything from bear traps to underwear-and all manner of yarns.

How do you describe the personalities of those around you? Introverted, friendly, serious, extroverted? Just for fun, or to relieve the blah-ness of this time of year, take one day and put all the people you encounter into little descriptive boxes. By the end of the day I'll bet you'll have boxes that say happy, friendly, smiling, grumpy, co-operative, keen and curious. You can come up with a whole lot more.

What would this tell you? Well… it might tell you more about yourself than others. If you end the day with a heavy box of friendly or happy people, maybe it is something about you that encourages them to respond that way. Or the opposite-if people greet you with a grump, maybe that's the message you are conveying to them, too.

If you live anywhere on the East Coast you'll probably have a collection of people in your friendly and smiling box. On the back road where I live friends and strangers alike smile and wave from their cars or on their walks. It's a joy to go to the village-people greet local residents by name and pass on bits of news about what is happening in the neighbourhood and beyond. You don't get those responses in the cities or on the TCH! Of course they want to know about you, too-makes you wonder if they're more nosy than friendly!

Mornings are my favourite time of day-my brain seems to kick in before daylight, and it slows down before dark. Last fall I had occasion to travel from my home in Nova Scotia to New Brunswick once a week. At around 6:15 a.m. each Thursday I stopped at Lyons Country Store in Lutes Mountain. The store sports gas pumps outside and everything imaginable inside.

If I didn't need gas I stopped at the store anyway because I needed a Catherine Lyons fix-a friendly, smiling, welcoming greeting from a gal who is clearly another morning person. After our first encounter she always greeted me with recognition. We'd have a short Thursday-morning chat. She would ask about the dogs, or would come to the car to say hello if they were with me. Sometimes I'd let the dogs out for a run in the park-like yard next to the store; Catherine would offer advice about the local weather or road conditions. It was like having a short visit with an old friend. Catherine is in a little personality box of her own in my collection-it's called the Lyons Store box.

Lyons Store is a favourite stop for many people. It is situated at the Moncton end of Route 126 (known locally as the Rogersville Road). It's a small store packed with goodies-some things stay around all year, others change with the season. Last fall a vision of hunter orange greeted you when you wandered in. This spring there'll be plenty of fishing stuff mixed with extension cords, nails, potato chips, boots and groceries. Who knows-maybe chocolates and red things will be strewn around for Valentine's Day. New stuff rolls in all the time, and it mixes with what's there-the cheese and salt cod, and sandwiches, and clothing, and boots, and jackets, and groceries, and… and… and.

Catherine's dad, George Stanley Lyons, was responsible for this little treasure-trove. He was a travelling butcher back in the 40s and 50s, always finding time to indulge his passions of hunting and fishing. In 1959 he decided to open his own store where he could combine all his interests. Catherine worked at the store, taking time out to travel across Canada but always knowing this is where she wanted to be. She took over the management in 1994 and has been anchored here ever since.

You need to take the time to linger in this store, and to let your gaze wander from floor to ceiling. Homemade signs invite you to look here or look there, look at this or look at that. Nobody bugs you while you wander and look and touch. But they're there if you need help. It's an independent and original little spot. Most of the "stuff" is Canadian-Briggs & Little yarns from New Brunswick, and Stanfields, of course.

While you're taking it all in you might overhear local and far-away accents. The cars outside will be predominantly from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, but the accents tell you the shoppers might be from Newfoundland, Germany, Finland or England-or from places you can't mentally place. They've come to fish, hunt bear, play golf, or to generally see and smell our area. And Lyons Store seems to be at the centre of their travel.

The Lyons-type stores and the Catherine-type people give us our identity in this area. They are the reason we enjoy the reputation of being a friendly region. The people are industrious and imaginative. The stores are a far cry from the big box ventures-you don't have to pay a membership fee to shop at the Lyons Store, and you don't have to line up to give away your money. And you get to pass the time of day with the people who serve you.

These small stores have heart; they hold the friendly folk that make the local residents and the CFAs return time after time. But not only do they hold our special people, they also offer treasures you can't find anywhere else. I now walk in boots I searched for years to find-easy to slip on, waterproof boots that I got at Lyons Store.

You're welcome to drop in anytime you're in the area-Catherine and her crew always seem thrilled that you took the time to visit. It's just a quick zip off the TCH near Moncton. You won't regret taking the time to stop, and you'll probably find something you didn't know you've always wanted. I guarantee that you'll make it a regular stop in the future.