Recreating Main Street In My Small Town Cozy Mysteries

Sometimes I wonder how it would be if I revisited the small town where I grew up if just to see what it is like today. No doubt it would look wet and cold. So, let's make it a clear, sunny day in June. While I made my way down the sidewalk along Main Street, I wonder if the memories would come back to me. I wonder if I would see the details I've forgotten, or I haven't thought about in many years. So far, I've resisted the temptation to return, and I probably won't do it. I suppose there really is something to the old saying you can't go home again. 

Seeing Main Street through an adult's eyes is a lot different than through seeing it through a kid's eyes. As a kid I believe I was more aware of my five senses. You know, the smells, sounds, and sights I encountered on Main Street. For instance, I can still recall the unique pungent scent of the fermenting corn I smelled around the grain elevators and metal silos at the Famers' Co-op.

It was located next to the railroad tracks at the far end of Main Street. The railroad tracks that I remember so well have helped me to anchor the mental map I've drawn to create my fictional small town of Quiet Anchorage, Virginia. I like for my two sister sleuths Isabel & Alma Trumbo to visit Main Street early in the book. In fact, many of the scenes take place on Main Street, either on the sidewalks or inside the different shops. Main Street becomes an important place for Isabel & Alma to go to mingle with and meet their friends.