Wow. You’ll never believe what happened last week! 

We showed up at the Boalsburg Farmers Market on Tuesday. Got there right at 2pm when it opened. Walked in, saw 47 people we knew, chatted, greeted, smiled, and felt like a part of the community.

Nothing new there.

I bought a big bag of fresh greens for a salad while my husband ordered two pizzas for us to take home for lunch.

(Side note on the pizza from Happy Valley Chef? You might not think that dill or bread and butter pickles would be at the top of your “must try” topping list. But I’m telling you, their pizza with mozzarella, bacon, Asiago cheese, chili honey, and the perfect amount of pickles is not to be missed.)

As per usual, I also saw lots of great dogs and appreciated that glorious, tall gang of pine trees that stand in front of the PA Military Museum.

And when I noticed a long line at the tomato vendor across from the Gemelli bread stand, I made a mental note. Next Tuesday’s farmers’ market lunch was going to be fresh tomato, cheese, olive oil, and herbs on crusty bread.

Anyway, this story about the farmers market isn’t the story.

What happened next is…

We got into our car, incredible-smelling artisan pizza and greens in tow. And as we crested the hill on South Atherton, heading back towards town, we saw it.

An astonishing amount of traffic. Outside of a football weekend, I’d never seen anything like it here.

And here’s the kicker.

Can you believe that it took almost 90 whole entire seconds to get through it?

There are so many wonderful things about living in State College, but unexpected Tuesday afternoon traffic that delays you for a little more than a minute? Well, it’s something we locals have all had to learn to tolerate in exchange for the beautiful nature, adorable downtown, amazing schools, and overall fulfilling experience of living here.

Okay, okay. So I’m obviously being sarcastic. But truly, overly-dramatized traffic story aside, it does crack me up just how spoiled I’ve become when it comes to driving around town. For a period of time when I lived in Pittsburgh, I spent 7-8 hours every week inching along bumper-to-bumper as I commuted into and out of the city for my job.

And now? Five cars at a red light has me wondering out loud, “What’s with the traffic?!”

It’s one of those things about living here that can easily be taken for granted. And it usually takes me getting out of town to visit city-dwelling family or friends to remember just how straightforward it is here to get where I need to go.

From my front door, I can hop in the car for 10 minutes or less and get to our mechanic, dentist, dry cleaners, or post office.

Three grocery stores, several farmers markets, and multiple international markets also come in under 10 minutes.

And so do beautiful trails, a great cup of coffee, lots of the restaurants on our personal “best of” list, and most of our friends’ houses.

Many of those spots are also walkable or bikeable.

(And with even more bike lanes scheduled to be built soon, that’ll become even easier!)

The funny thing about Tuesday’s out-of-the-ordinary traffic jam was that by the time we got home, I barely even remembered it had happened.

And after devouring that pickle pizza? It was a distant memory.

The time saved, the irritation avoided, the headaches and hurdles that never come are all perks about living here that can’t be overstated. There are plenty of ways that life can be stressful or make us feel harried or rushed. And it’s great to live in a place that takes some of that away, instead of consistently adding to it.