Kathy’s Toll Booth

Since Kathy’s turned the alley into our patio we cook out and play cards most nights, so we’re eating out less.  I had gotten in the habit of carrying an empty plastic grocery bag in my pocket so that I would have a way to carry home the fruit and vegetables we’d pick or have presented to us during the course of an evening walk, or on the way home from a restaurant, I called it my “swag bag.”  It still comes in handy on morning walks.

Annexing the alley for outdoor living space hasn’t diminished the flow of foot traffic through it.  Passing neighbors, many of whom speak little to no English at all, often feel compelled to stop and chat, many of them just happen to be carrying plastic grocery bags full of their own swag.  As often as not, the visitor will reach into their bag and lay something from it on the table as a parting gift.  I have taken to calling our little table and chairs, “Kathy’s toll booth.”  Tonight we tried to tally up all of stuff she’d collected since setting up shop in the alley.  We used the score pad from the card game.  The list included: cucumbers, zucchinis, egg plants, figs, capers, apricots, eggs, peaches, cinnamon bread, a bag of blackberries, a bottle of home made wine that came in a 1.5 liter plastic Coke bottle, and a bouquet of dried chamomile.

”What about that bottle of olive oil?”  Kathy asked. 

photos by Newell and Skaggs

“Doesn’t count,” was my reply.

“Why not?” she rejoined.

“Because no one brought it to us,
 we collected that ourselves.”