being with people

[asakiyume]

Every time I get to exchange friendly words with people, it's a shot of pure joy. Every time I get to be (safely) in proximity to people, it's a rush of euphoria.



Last week I got to meet up with B, one of my former tutees from Holyoke, and I was able to get her together with J, a guy who raises, rides, and promotes paso fino horses (these horses have a gait that looks like they're dancing; they're very popular in Puerto Rico and Colombia--coincidentally the two Spanish-speaking places I've visited. I've known of J for years because he always rides in the B'town fair parade in September (no fair this year, obviously), but I found out a bit about his outreach to young people in Springfield and Holyoke through social-justice activity. Since then, I've wanted for the two to meet, since B lived in the Puerto Rican countryside until she was 12 and misses horses and other animals something fierce. So it was a huge thrill when it finally worked out.

B taking a photo as J leads out Cancionero, his stallion


See the stable? J built it himself. Amazing guy.

Lovely Cancionero running in a paddock.




Then yesterday I decided to harvest all the apples from my tree. One very prolific branch hangs over into my neighbor's yard, so I asked her if I could bring a ladder over. (Can I just say how wonderful and right it is to have to go up a ladder to get apples? I realize that in terms of the apple industry and simplicity of harvesting dwarf trees make sense, but OH THE JOY of a full-sized tree.) I said I'd share the results.

Her two little girls came over, and I explained about why some of these apples looked a little funny and what scale was and so on. They're in kindergarten and third first and second grade. They sat so close--wonderful.


Here is the harvest!


The ripe ones are so red they're almost black.




And today, after an unfortunate and depressing encounter with a Trump rally in a nearby town, I came back to a gathering in B'town supermarket of a motorcycle club, a largely Latinx group, playing great music. These women let me take their pictures. So cool! They look like they're about to star in a movie about motociclistas.



"Are we in Mass?" asked one of the women.

It took me a minute to realize she was asking me what *state* she was in and not, like, what town.

"Yes," I said.

"Damn, then I can't get cigarettes."

"Oh I think you can, over there," I said, pointing to the gas station kiosk.

"But not Newports," she said darkly.

What? Don't they sell Newports in Massachusetts? I haven't a clue.

Anyway.

This is how I satisfy my need for connection in a time of coronavirus.

Comments

[sartorias]

Lovely horse.


Mmmmmm apple pie!

[queenoftheskies]

You have the most interesting life. :)

Those apples look delicious.

And the horse is beautiful.

[mallorys_camera]

Beeee-UUUU-tiful apples!!!! 😀

[threemeninaboat]

I love this post!

[cmcmck]

Thanks for sharing all this fun! :o)

[anna_wing]

And such nice, positive connection, too! I rode a gaited horse once, it was a revelation. Smooth as butter.

What is Latinx? Is it a short form for Latin American?

[wayfaringwordhack]

What lovely apples and to think you started all that abundance from a seed.

Hope you get a new oven soon so many more lovely pies my ensue.

And I love the meet-up your arranged around that lovely Paso Fino.

[noachoc]

I keep meaning to ask you, remember when you made something out of acorns once? (Something edible, that is). Could you tell me what you did and how?