Gifts

Glass watering globe

New Orleanians are generous people. Perhaps it's something about being in a city where resources are dear; people feel compelled to share what little they have.

We've already been gifted with small kindnesses from people we barely know, in a way that would never happen in Los Angeles.

On our third morning in town, around ten o'clock, a knock came at the door. It was Tom, the man around the corner we'd met as he drank a beer at the tailgate of his pick-up truck the previous evening. I'd mentioned I wanted to go look at a neighborhood thrift store to look for a small table to add to the bathroom.

Tom held a little, wrought-iron plant stand. "You said you needed a table. I thought this might work for you," he said.

It would and it does. The next time I encountered him while walking the dog, I told him how perfect it was.

I talked with our next door neighbor Jera about the hanging baskets on the porch. "You need those glass watering globes," she said, "to keep them moist."

This morning when I came home from an errand, there were three pretty glass watering globes on my porch next to the bag of potting soil.

Our other neighbor lent us a screwdriver when we needed it. "Don't worry," he said. "Give it back when you're all done."

Of course, when you receive, it's always good to give back in return. Today, another neighbor asked if we had a computer and printer. Could we print him a picture of something he wanted to make a painting of?

Of course we could. We just hand-delivered it to his door.