Meet Richard. He’s not Today’s Nice Stranger. He’s a very dear friend of mine since when my younger daughter (now 21) was in elementary school and he used to pick up his granddaughter. We had a little gang (including my current rollerskating friend, Caryn*, whom you’ve met here a million times, including in the Acknowledgements of my book, Traveling at the Speed of Bike) who used to sit around a tree and talk while waiting for dismissal each day. Before cellphones.
You met Richard in my book, Food for My Daughters, in two stories (probably more): What Really Happened When the Worms Arrived (pages 3-5), and We Can Save the Butterflies (pages 121-123). Or maybe you remember this little video from a series I did titled “Why Do You Do What You Do?” way back in like 2007.
I run into Richard around town while Traveling at the Speed of Bike. We pick right up where we left off, and we both end up in side-splitting laughs. Really, we’re thinking of dong a little show. Although of course we’ve been thinking of that for fifteen years now. Yesterday I was on my way to practice rollerskating, wearing my Yoyo Ferro street art socks! Note: Yoyo Ferro** (and his mom!) was a Today’s Nice Stranger! You may enjoy The Joy of Socks.
You know, these kinds of connections (and many other human-scaled things) don’t happen when I drive my car.
Oh, and in case you are wondering, my worms are still going strong, generations of them later. If you are interested in making your own worm bin, here ya go:
And as for pollinators, last year (COVID) was the best in years (see link below). This year so far is ok, but not as good. I’m wondering if the increase in motor vehicle traffic again has anything to do with that.
I’ll have to ask Richard what he thinks next time we cross paths. Which may be weekly for our show. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, thanks, Richard.
*Caryn
**Yoyo Ferro and his mom
Traveling at the Speed of Bike 