As strong winds make the loose snow fly around throughout the flatlands of Minnesota, causing schools all over the state to close and driving conditions to be less than ideal, I came across the perfect illustration of my hometown.

Buffalo Lake, Minnesota, population 773, is the small town that city dwellers read about in the magazines. My friends and I have created a requirement system to be an actual town and BL meets those requirements: a bar, a softball field and a church. That’s all you need to be a small town.

Buffalo Lake is a place where you can leave your car run outside while you go into the grocery store, where the owner is also the cashier. The grocery store is where the perfect illustration occurred.

I was pulling out of my parking spot in front of the grocery store, my car being the only one in front of the store, and I noticed something about the other ten or so cars parked on Main Street: all of the cars were either parked in front of the bakery or the bar.

Maybe everyone was practicing their inventory management with the blizzard upon us by stocking up on the essential alcohol and doughnuts or maybe not, but it says a lot about my hometown, a place that I love.

A lot of rumors and, to put it an inelegant way, crap go around in our little town, but that happens anywhere. This a place where people work and work hard, a place where you know everybody’s name, a place that you care about everyone and they care about you, a place that everyone should want to call home.

If you look, you’ll find pluses and you’ll find minuses. And If you’re looking for someone, look for them at the bakery or the bar.