Month: January 2018

Moonshine, IL and a jaunt through Casey

I stumbled across Moonshine, IL completely by accident. It’s a known fact that the internet is just a huge rabbit hole and in a few short clicks you’ve fallen in. What starts off as an internet search for one thing can end up light years away in a few simple clicks. That’s what happened on Friday. I’m not entirely sure what I was looking for, but I ended up on a list called ‘219 weird and usual things to do in Illinois.’

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you will be familiar with my weird fascination with cemeteries. That was the first thing that caught my eye on the list; a witch’s grave in St. Omer Cemetery about 170 miles south of where I live. A few clicks later I was on a page for Moonshine, IL; according to the online reviews, this place makes the best burgers EVER. Moonshine is  30 miles south of St Omer so figured why not? 2 birds, one road trip.

Moonshine Store, IL

Moonshine is one building with a population of 2 people. It is a simple old-style store along a county road located at a crossroad. It would be difficult to find without the modern wonder of GPS. There is nothing else for miles. They are open from 6am – 12:30, 6 days a week. Given that it is a 3 hour trip from my house, it made sense to stop there first because there’s no closing time at the bone orchard. The food was on a time limit. The weather was not great so luckily I had the store to myself until another family arrived. Apparently it’s usually packed! This is a cash-only store but no fear, there’s an ATM in the store if you find yourself short of cash. There is a $3 charge to use the ATM.

I got chatting to the couple manning the grill. What great people! The decor is eclectic and it feels like time stopped somewhere in the 50’s. It’s how I imagine all the stores are along Route 66. Vintage. Rustic. Brilliant!

Moonshine Store, IL
Moonshine Store, IL

I let them order me whatever they felt like making which turned out to be a bacon cheeseburger. Fresh hand-made beef patty which was so juicy, a slab of cheese topped with crispy bacon on the softest bun I’ve had in ages. It’s about the size of a paper plate so take your appetite! I sat outside on the little wooden bench on the porch, under cover watching the rain. A few more cars pulled up. The lady behind the counter suggested I head back into Casey and handed me a map of sights that I absolutely HAD to see.

Bacon and cheeseburger from the Moonshine Store, IL

What started out as a trip for a burger and a bone orchard turned into a trip through small town America. Heading north I turned right at the only set of traffic lights in Casey. About a block up that road, I came to the world’s largest rocking chair across the road from the world’s largest wind chimes! If you’ve ever wondered what people do in small towns, wonder no more!

Casey, IL

This little Illinois town is home to some of the world’s largest oddities. In the space of 3 blocks, you can see the world’s largest rocking chair, wind chimes, spinning top, pencil, mailbox and wooden shoes. Drive a mile or three and you’re at the world’s largest golf tee and pitchfork. Heading north out of town, pull into the JJet car park and you’ll find the world’s largest rocking horse on the porch.

World's largest pitchfork,
World’s largest pitchfork, anyone?
The world's largest rocking horse
The world’s largest rocking horse, under the porch at JJet.
The world's largest wooden shoes.
The world’s largest wooden shoes.
World's largest pencil
For all your stationery needs, the world’s largest pencil!

The world's largest rocking chair, Casey, IL
The world’s largest rocking chair, Casey, IL
World’s Largest Wind chimes, Casey, IL
There’s a helpful signpost with what to see and where.
World's Largest windchimes
World’s Largest Wind chimes, Casey, IL

You can access the wind chimes through the cafe next door. You can pull the rope and ring the chimes for free!

The largest wooden shoes are in a little souvenir shop behind the world’s largest mailbox. Be sure to stop in and pick up a postcard. The friendly staff behind the counter will happily put a stamp on it for you and you can hoof up 4 flights of stairs into the mailbox to mail them off. It will be postmarked from ‘The World’s Largest Mailbox’. I mailed myself a postcard! They sell international stamps as well if you’re visiting from abroad and want to send one home.

The world's largest mailbox.
The world’s largest mailbox. Climb inside and mail off some bills!

St Omer Cemetery

The cemetery is about 30 miles north of Casey down a 2 track road into the bush. Don’t worry, it’s not as creepy as it sounds. I was the only person there. It’s not a large  cemetery and when you stand facing it, Caroline Barnes’ grave is in the far right hand corner, under a tree. All the other graves are in neat rows,  facing east/west. Caroline’s grave is under the tree, facing north/south. The headstone is a ball on top of a pile of wood. This is meant to be symbolic of a witch’s crystal ball and the pyre of wood she was allegedly burned on.

The road to the cemetery
The witch who died on Feb 31st, 1882
Caroline Barnes' grave
The Witch and the Wood Pyre
Caroline Barnes' grave
Buried under a tree in St. Omer Cemetery

Some say she was burned, others say she was hanged and then buried. Local legend has a way of changing depending on who you’re speaking to. The oddity is the date of death on her headstone. Feb 31, 1882, the day that never was. This oddity is what keeps people visiting the cemetery long after she would probably have faded into obscurity.

Again, depending on who you speak to, some say the date was merely a typo on the headstone but it was too expensive to rectify so it was left as is. Others believe the date was intentional. It was believed that a witch’s spirit could return on the anniversary of her death so by making the date impossible, she would never be able to return. I know which version of the story I prefer. It’s infinitely more intriguing having a feared witch buried under a headstone designed to keep her in the Otherworld than a simple typo on a headstone accidentally facing the wrong direction.

The tree that turned the road – this road was straight for miles until it reached this tree
The moon over an open field in the middle of nowhere

The internet is a treasure trove of weird and wonderful things. A great day out is just one rabbit hole away!

 

New Year’s Resolutions – so are we doing this or what?

 

2017 is done and dusted and once again it’s time to look ahead with the proverbial list of New Year’s Resolutions in hand of everything we’re going to do this year. The list looks a lot like the list at the beginning of last year, and the year before that… It’s easy to be full of optimism with the promise of a fresh slate ahead and the motivation to get it done.

But how are YOU different today? What magically changed when the clock struck midnight? The chances are your mindset today is exactly the same as it was yesterday, except today there’s a bit a bit more enthusiasm to tackle the endless list of things we want to change about our lives and selves. I recently watched a video a friend posted and the speaker made an excellent point. We treat things like our health and relationships as events when they should be a lifestyle.

If you think about it, he’s spot on. An event is an optional one-time thing but a lifestyle is every day. When you put your goal weight up as something to achieve, how likely is it that you’ll stick to it? I haven’t. I have never made healthy living a lifestyle, only a goal on a list somewhere that I may or may not get around to. I’ll always be the person who will choose a good book over going to the gym or going for a long walk. I know this about myself. Standing at the starting line of a new year is the same person who crossed the finish line last year. I am not different so the question becomes what will I DO differently this year?

Health isn’t something you arrive at. It’s something you live. You don’t go to bed overweight and unhealthy then wake up svelte and glowing. Health is lived consciously. Make better decisions in order to remove the things that degrade your body; manage your stress and move your body. Automatically reaching for a double sugar, extra cream coffee to start your day isn’t going to magically bring you a different result just because you want it to. Personally most of my food choices are automatic because I know I like them and that’s one less decision I need to make when I’m tired. The problem is the automatic choice isn’t the right one if I’m aiming to change my body and health so it has to be a conscious decision if I want a different result.

Another caveat is that you have to be willing to accept where you are now. It’s not easy, believe me I know. It’s not easy to look in the mirror and take stock of it all. Denying the problem will not drive you to solve it. You have to admit that it’s broken before you can fix it. Tell it like it is in all its brutal honesty. Take responsibility for what you’ve created to this point and do not blame someone or something else for your predicament. It is very important that you understand this.

Let me give you an example. About 5 years ago, I sorted my health out and dropped 20 lbs over the course of a year. I’d finally done what I’d wanted to do for years and was so proud of what I’d accomplished. Then winter rolled around and for the first time in my life I experienced Seasonal Affective Disorder. I’d always laughed SAD off as a fluffy condition that couldn’t possibly be real. Oh was I wrong! It was the roughest winter I’d ever experienced until that point and I went into depression virtually overnight. The smallest thing felt impossible to cope with. My energy levels disappeared, I could barely function; mentally it felt like a black hole and it came out of nowhere. I went to see my doctor and being in Murica, I walked out with a prescription for anti-depressants. What she failed to mention was that anti-depressants have weight gain as a side-effect. I went up 17 lbs in 6 weeks without changing a single thing about my diet. A year’s worth of effort was wiped out in just over a month.

I’ve blamed that medication for my current weight for 5 years now. Sure, the weight gain in that instance was not necessarily my fault but it was MY responsibility. I could have asked about the side effects before blindly accepting that prescription but I didn’t. There are alternative ways to deal with depression but I chose the quick fix. I am responsible for my health, not my doctor so I decide what goes into my body, no-one else. The event that derailed my weight was not my fault but I’ve spent the past 5 years using it as an excuse. Having an excuse just means having a reason not to do anything about it but taking responsibility changes the game. Taking responsibility means taking the reins and dealing with what needs to be done.

It’s time to ditch the blame because it’s just an excuse not to change. Take responsibility for getting to where you need to be. No-one is coming to do it for us so we can step up and deal with it, or go back and crawl under the comfort of our excuses. For our life to change, our lifestyle has to change. Health isn’t a pet project; it’s a commitment. Relationships aren’t a part-time event; they’re an ongoing work-in-progress. Building a business isn’t a 6 week crash course; it’s a constant game of change and adapt. Decide what is worth living every day because that’s what it’s going to take. Decide. Then go and live it.