3 vignettes

i have 3 unrelated thoughts .. but if i don't post them now, they probably won't get posted. sorry for the randomness :P

CULTURES .. i was talking with a friend the other day and she said something that was funny .. but i didn't understand much. she said it quickly and mumbled a little. she looked at me with exasperation and said, "you americans don't understand anything!" i looked at her with sad puppy eyes, and sighed. she relented, "okay. you're half romanian, so you understand some of the time." we looked at each other and laughed for at least a minute. sweet!

AUTUMN .. living in Romania, one of the signs of fall that i enjoy is a particular smell. because it is still very much an agricultural society, going to the neighborhood farmers' market is still part of the week (at least once!) for most families. and in the fall, there is lots of canning, pickling and freezing to prepare fruits and veggies for winter. one common vegetable is a red pepper. it is similar to a bell pepper, but can be a bit spicy. they are roasted, peeled, and then frozen or canned to be eaten later in the year. and the smell .. delectable!

KINDNESS .. this evening, on my way to church, i saw a little boy (5 or 6 years old) caught on a fence. it was 2 or 2.5 feet high, and he had climbed halfway over. most apartment blocks have plots of land outside that are fenced in, which are sometimes used for flowers or drying clothes. this little boy looked pretty stuck, and a young man who was walking by said 'can i help you?' and gently and easily picked him up. he held him up so they were about eye level, and then asked him which way he had been trying to go. the boy told him and was gently placed on the other side of the fence. what a treat .. to see one human acknowledge and value another with grace and simplicity.