Two Neighbors

 #1 - One of my upstairs neighbors has more than 1 adult/vehicle and only 1 parking spot.

Right now some of the parking spaces have been blocked off because they are re-shingling the roof. So I just sent a message that they are welcome to use my assigned space while this is going on.  She responded with a big thank you.

It's an effortless thing on my part, and to think it all began because...you may or may not remember my first interaction with them a year ago. One of them left an unkind note on another neighbor's car, about using the unassigned parking spaces instead of his assigned space...

#2 -  I went outside and the neighbor right above me was unloading a bunch of plants.  "Wow," I said, "You just bought this many more plants?!"  (I have long admired all the green I see in his windows when I come home and it's dark).

He explained that these were actually plants he's had but had put in his parents yard for the summer to get some extra sun.  "Do you need any plants?" he asked.

"I don't need any, but I always like more plants."

"The pathos plants work well in low light."

"My friend told me to get some pathos to put on my kitchen cabinets. I was waiting until I get a window in my door though so they'd have more light." I replied.

He then said he was making some more baby pathos and would pass one on once he got it established.  

#3 -  "Don't let this darkness fool you

All lights turned off can be turned on."

 

 #4 - I heard about the hospital in Gaza that was bombed on the radio this afternoon.

Early this evening I took a mountain bike ride at a nearby park.

At the end of my ride I decided to double my monthly Doctors without Borders contribution.  The contribution is so minuscule I neither notice it nor even recalled what the amount was.

"What motivated me to make this change?" I reflected.

It wasn't just hearing the devastation on the news, the devastation didn't motivate me.

It was combining the knowledge of the devastation, with an action (biking) that filled me with beauty and strength.  It's the old adage about how you can't fill from an empty cup.

When I got home I tried to look on my statements to see how much my current donation is. I found nothing.  I looked more and found the last deduction was in June.  I recalled that I had gotten a new card because of some potential fraud, so my monthly donation hadn't occurred the last three months.

I called and fixed that.

#5 - "You can bomb the world to pieces

but you can't bomb it into peace."

Michael Franti