July 9, 2009

The lady next door is a sweet little granny with a beautiful garden, full of flowers and vegetables. I've lovingly dubbed her "The Vegetable Fairy." It all began when I helped her hang some strings for her Japanese Climbing Beans... she opted to repay my kindness in bean seeds (which, as I'm writing this, suddenly reminds me of Jack and the Beanstalk, lol). Further into the summer, when the vegetables were so ripe and juicy you could fill up on just the scents, she'd bring some over for me. Tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers... delightful. Many times I'd come home to find a surprise bag of fresh veggies left for me on my patio. 

The Vegetable Fairy and I would chat here and there about numerous things, and despite the fact that we're two generations apart, we actually have a lot in common... including our respective family's fondness for making jam. And so began the homemade jam swap, which continued well into the fall. Once the snow hit and visions of Santa were seen with more prominence than any teen pop idol in crisis, she'd leave cookies and greeting cards at my door.

What a generous, loving old doll. Her idea of community and sharing is beautiful, and sadly rare. I've always appreciated her heartfelt kindnesses. But the one thing she'd always leave for me that I really had no use for throughout the seasons is her magazines. For some odd reason, she kept receiving issues of youthful fashion mags she really didn't care for... so she'd give them to me. Being an anti-mainstream kind of person, I've never really been into those kinds of things myself, so they generally got more action out of the recycling bin than they did from either of us. Still, she'd quietly sneak more in front of my door to surprise me in the morning.

I've been out of town for some lengthy stretches over the last few months, exploring virtually every inch of Canada and beyond. I guess The Vegetable Fairy has noticed I've finally returned. And while I'm not a fashion magazine fan, I think I'll be keeping this issue. How wonderful that simply hanging a few bean strings for someone would lead to a sweet friendship I'll never forget.