the day got brighter

No, the sun did not come out. But I went for a walk. Amazingly, with all the food and all the drink and all the desserts, I did not gain one ounce while I was at the Claremont Hotel and Spa. Maybe it was because, with rare exceptions, I took the stairs. Or maybe not. In any case, I have a lot of excess energy (and excess other stuff) that I need to walk off.

I forget what it was a while ago that prompted my post on life's little gifts - but today I got another one. While I was walking, I came upon this beautiful object lying between the sidewalk and curb on some newly dug dirt. When I picked it up, I realized it was one of those little fences they put around newly planted trees. But honestly, I don't recall a tree. I continued my walk and down the street, on the other side, was a crew of hardhat GUYS with shovels and a truck that said something like "NJ Tree Commission." One of them saw me and started to walk across the street with his hand extended, apparently to take the treasure from me. They thought I was coming over to give it to them because I was annoyed that they had left it there...said there was a cleanup crew coming by later.

I asked "do you want this?" "Do YOU?," said he. And because he had the good grace not to ask what I wanted it for, I told him that I am an artist. Guy #2, hearing that,walked over to ask me whether I was a sculptor and whether I had a gallery. I told him I had just been in California teaching what I would do with this wonderful gift, and he wanted to know where I had been. Turned out he used to live in Berkeley, on Oregon St. right near Telegraph. The world gets smaller every day. At any rate, they offered me more fence but I thought it might be overkill, so I declined.

Sorry I am not a sculptor. I wish I were. I can't seem to think three-dimensionally --at least when it comes to making art. So I will have to think about what else to do with it. What would YOU do with this beautiful object? Feel free to comment anonymously.