There is a garden near a corner that I walk by regularly.  Right now, it has a huge batch of beautiful black-eyed-Susans.  I often think that one or two might not be missed, but I have resisted helping myself.

The other day on my walk back from the library, I spied an older gentleman in shorts and a t-shirt picking up his empty trash barrels in front of “my” beloved flowers.  I asked him if he lived there.  “Yes”, he replied.

I told him that I walk by his flowers regularly and asked if I could pick one.  “No,” he replied, “but you may have two,” He then cut the two I pointed to and handed them to me.

What’s your name? I asked.  “Leonard,” he replied.

I have a new friend in the neighborhood.