These days I'm walking more frequently and for longer periods of time. Our second dog Archie loves these outings and so does my waistline. Certainly not a creature of routines, I try to break the monotony by inventing different loops around the neighborhood. But route repetition is inescapable, the neighborhood sights are so familiar now and I have started noticing even the slightest changes. Most cacti now have flowers; people beautify their surroundings cactus the other day I spied one sidewalk's newly laid concrete adorned with hearts and initials. I have noticed door flags that herald Valentines day replaced by a four- leaf- clover flag which in turn was taken down and then replaced by graduation cap flags hanging proudly. Recently my attention is held captive by orbs in all shades of red, orange and purple hanging from the trees. They were flowers a few months ago and through the rainy days the resilient little things just hung tight in their branches. Here they are now, all grown up, aromatic, sweet and ever so tempting. Peaches, apricots, plumbs. Each time I see them I want to go, reach, grab and fill a basket with the fresh fruit. Sometimes I feel a strong urge to knock on the lucky fruit tree owner's door, offer a few dollars for a bagful. But I never do any of this. Instead Archie and I walk by these beauties and leave them to squirrels and the crows and a whole lot more closeted fruitarians of the animal kingdom that make south Newhall/Valencia their home.
Walking down my street this morning, I ran into a woman who was picking some Santa Rosa plums from her very productive front yard plum tree. The jingle of Archie's tag against the collar distracted her from her plums. She looked down and we exchanged "good morning" greetings. But then she quickly read my mind and offered a zip-lock bag of plums. I was as stunned as I was thankful about her psychic abilities and generosity. With a dozen ripen plums from my neighbors tree to brighten my morning, I walked back home smiling. This morning the universe aligned just perfectly.
