Heaven sent?
Posted by bbc on 13 Nov 2006 | Tagged as: general
OK, I know about manna and about things that you really need in your life suddenly manifesting themselves. But tomatoes?
Most of the things that have been falling from the heavens in Portland lately are raindrops – and occasionally leaves swirling down from the trees so quickly they seem to be dropping from the sky. I’m especially bemused by the ones that rise up from the ground and come by the fifth floor window I lounge in – then drop back down suddenly. The wind currents this time of year are intriguing.
We had a sudden windstorm on Sunday night – with winds on one of the bridges being clocked at 60mph. The tree that slaps against my window was making its presence known most of Sunday night and I could hear the flowerpots on my balcony being rearranged. So Monday morning when I ventured out I was not surprised to find some unusual items on the streets as well as the expected limbs and leaves all over the place. It was only barely daylight as I made my way toward the local coffee shop where I was meeting a friend for our usual Monday morning “get the week off to a good start” round of caffeine.
Waiting on the street corner for the light to change, I noticed a small red object nestled in the leaves under the tree. It looked like a small rubber ball – and I’d been looking for just such an object the day before for an experiment I was running. So I stooped to poke at it – and realized it was a medium size tomato – lying there in the leaves. Curiously it was not damaged in any way – just lying there waiting for someone to pick it up. So clearly it did not fall from any apartment balcony – it must have rolled out of grocery bag as someone else waited on this corner. Grocery tomatoes may sometimes be hard, but not that hard. We’re not far from the local Safeway – so people carrying groceries are a common sight. Anyone carrying groceries during the height of the wind and rain last night likely wasn’t paying too close attention to all their bags. Just keeping from being soaked or having stuff blown into them would have been work enough. So this one tomato was left behind.
With no chance of restoring it to its rightful owner, I decided to take it home with me. It wouldn’t replace the red rubber ball I had been expecting, but would go nicely in my dinner salad. I don’t know what the significance of being sent a tomato would be – but at least it wasn’t thrown at me and didn’t drop on my head. Perhaps it’s just a reminder to keep paying attention to the small things around me – and to avoid making assumptions about what something might be until I look more closely. Good advice for any day of the week, but especially a Monday after a storm.
My desk was behind this column.
You have to start somewhere…
David