neighbors

I arrived home from work today to find this lovely carton of eggs on my back steps. They are a gift from a neighbor who has hens (twenty of them, I believe) -which is more than enough hens to provide fresh eggs for his family along with at least three or four neighbors.

I am in love with the different colors (tan, brown, off-white, and green!) and also the range of sizes. We always get a few that might be categorized as XXX small.

He gives these beauties away at no charge, delivering them on his bike and even once when it was raining,

Because I am a grateful neighbor and because I would love to keep this stream of eggy-goodness coming our way, I delivered a few empty egg cartons for recycling to his front door the other day. I included a humble thank-you note in case no one was home, along with a little jar of wild blueberry jam.

The older woman who answered the door was likely his wife. Or perhaps his significant other. It could have even been his sister; I don't know. She wore what my grandmother used to call a "house-dress" (a nightgown, really...) and had tattoos on her arms & legs. I'm not sure she had her teeth in. But she was pleasant enough.

"Please tell Alex thank you for the eggs!" I cheerily enthused. "We love them!"

Neighbors make life so very very fun sometimes.