Icicle Bicycle, Tanabata, wishes

[asakiyume]

I wanted to try to bring some of the good things that I saw in neighborhoods in Leticia to my neighborhood in western Massachusetts--the sense of (mild) commerce and work mixed in with homes, of people doing things by foot or small transport, right in their neighborhoods, interacting with each other in the spaces by their homes rather than life lived in a series of space stations (the home station, the work station, the shopping station, the kids' activities stations) only reachable in your spaceship, which you pilot through the vacuum of space.

To that end, I decided to press the little wagon that wakanomori had built for my bicycle into service to sell ice creams in the neighborhood. But not to earn money: for one thing, I already have a job that earns me much more. For another, I think it would be, shall we say, confusing for my neighbors. But selling things for a cause is okay: people are used to that idea. One of my neighbors was super enthusiastic about the idea and came up with the notion of choosing a different local cause each week to raise money for (and suggested that we do rounds once a week all through the summer). The advantage of two of us is that if one of us can't do it, the other one can take charge.

The Icicle Bicycle--not yet loaded with ice cream, but with a llama balloon.



So we launched the Icicle Bicycle! We've done it for three weeks now, and it's gotten (touch wood) really good reception so far. We have some repeat customers, and each week some new ones. We get parents with little kids, teens on their own, and adults. It's wonderful!

Last week was also Tanabata, Japan's version of the pan-East Asian star festival, which commemorates the one day a year when the Weaver Maid and the Oxherd Boy (aka the stars Vega and Altair) cross the Heavenly River to see each other. Japan celebrates it on July 7, and one of the traditions is to hang wishes on decorated branches of bamboo. So I invited people who were buying ice cream to hang wishes on a branch of, uhhh, burning bush:



I kept the branch in my front yard for a few days for people to enjoy, but rain was causing the wishes to fall off, so I took everything down, and I confess I read the wishes. And oh my heart, such a mix...



I wish I can have a cat


I wish for a healthy garden and lots of good veggies


I wish I had a pickup truck


I wish that Alan Jackson will never die and world hunger is solved


I wish my dad stays sane and in my life 🥺


I love you, you are the best mom ever!
hope you have a great day


Please join me in praying for all these wishes to be fulfilled, especially the one about the father.

And if you're in my neighborhood on a Friday around 6 pm, you can pick up an ice cream for a dollar ;-) This week's cause is our town library. I'll be away, but if it doesn't rain, the Icicle Bicycle will be making rounds.

Comments

[sovay]

The Icicle Bicycle--not yet loaded with ice cream, but with a llama balloon.

That's really cool. What local causes are you raising money for?

I hope the wishes work.

[asakiyume]

So far we've raised money for
--a local animal shelter
--the school music program
--a church food pantry

And this week it will be for the town library.

(ETA: And thank you--I hope so too <3)

[sovay]

And this week it will be for the town library.

Nice!

[amaebi]

To these and all good wishes.

[asakiyume]

🙏🏻
Thank you

[kore]

Aww, this is so lovely. It made me tear up a bit!

[asakiyume]

**hugs**

me too, when I wrote it out.

[raven]

Oh, those wishes! What a lovely tradition, but ouch.

[asakiyume]

I *know*

They thump you right in the chest.

[osprey_archer]

Oh, I LOVE the idea of selling ice creams around the neighborhood to make money for local causes! What an amazing way to meet people and build community and share delicious ice creams!

[asakiyume]

It's *such* a good way to meet people!

The week before last, a big family came out and bought so many ice creams! I'd seen the boys in the family before because their yard abuts the access point for a trail, and I've seen them playing soccer there together, but that day their little sister and an uncle and a grandmother were there too, and EVERYone got ice cream.

It also really emboldens me. I see someone out, and I call to them, "Would you like an ice cream???" --Not my usual mode! But very fun.

[anna_wing]

A brilliant idea!

[asakiyume]

Thanks! It's something I've daydreamed about for a long time--I'm so happy it's actually happening!

(I'm afraid of jinxing it, though--I hope we really can last through the summer!)

[skygiants]

What a really delightful idea! I also hope the best for all these wishes :D

[asakiyume]

Our wishes will be wind under those wishes' wings, I hope.

[mallorys_camera]

I love the Icicle Bicycle and its Wishing Branch beyond words.

Just sayin'!

[asakiyume]

***strong hugs***

Thank you

[ellenmillion]

I love the Icicle Bicycle!

[asakiyume]

Hurray! I'm glad ^_^
Before, I'd only ever used the cart to bicycle to the supermarket. In winter I daydreamed about taking round an urn of hot chocolate, but (a) I don't have an urn and (b) for a good part of the winter, the roads can be tricky. Summer is definitely a better time to go pedaling (and peddling) around the neighborhood!

[sartorias]

Lighting a candle for Tanabata wishes.

What a terrific idea re the Icicle Bicycle!!!

[asakiyume]

🕯️🙏🏻

Thank you for the candle--and thanks for the enthusiasm about the Icicle Bicycle!

[wayfaringwordhack]

What a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful initiative. And the wishes...yeah, thump you in the chest, all right.

[asakiyume]

It's the type of thing I've always daydreamed about doing, but having my neighbor be enthusiastic about it and join in made it actually *happen*

And yeah 💔

[heleninwales]

What a great way to engage with people in your local neighbourhood. The Icicle Bicycle is a conversation starter, even if they don't actually buy an ice cream

[asakiyume]

Absolutely! A fair number of people don't buy, but they do chat. And although the causes that we collect for were (for me anyway) just an excuse to have the Icicle Bicycle, people are actually enthusiastic about donating, so we're ending up helping out in a mild way, too.

[rebeccmeister]

This is a combination of so many wonderful things. Love it!

I recently bought a big bag of freeze pops, but as it turns out I don't really have a use for them. I wonder if there's a way I could contribute them to you. Hmmmm...

[asakiyume]

Probably a little difficult, but I wonder if there's a young person in your life who'd like to do the freeze pop version of a lemonade stand....

[adore]

This is so lovely. I've been attacked by the warm fuzzies.

[asakiyume]

^_^

[oracne]

I love the name "Icicle Bicycle"!!!

[asakiyume]

Hurray!! I hope the people in the neighborhood do too--I think they mainly do. Or at least they like it, which is enough.

[genarti]

The Icicle Bicycle for charity! What a fabulous idea. And I love, love, love it as a way to increase a sense of in-person, really intensely local community.

Those wishes are beautiful, and oh, my heart, about the father. I hope they're all fulfilled.

[asakiyume]

Thanks so much for the extra hope for the wishes--here's to some Tanabata magic!

And thank you re: the idea, too. Ever since participating in the Walk for Hunger, I've thought about how a thing can be ostensibly about one thing (like raising money to fight hunger) but also be very majorly about something else (like building community, providing a celebration, getting people active, creating a multigenerational activity, showcasing local music, etc.)--whether deliberately or accidentally.

[squirrelitude]

ahhhh this is lovely!

[asakiyume]

^_^