Who Invited You?

Having just swept out the scraps of fallen popcorn from his food cart and having sat down to view his laptop, Sam is greeted by a few uninvited visitors.

I get a kick out of Sam as he relates to pigeons. The entire time he bitches at them and calls them "rats with wings," he smiles and speaks in soft and muted tones. Perhaps this paradox is a result of Sam giving in. Or perhaps it is because this man loves all that is living and alive on our One Street, Nicollet Avenue.

Sam has been a fixture in my summer life for the past five years. Perched in his six by nine foot food cart that is a renovated wagon-wheeled vessel from the late 1800s, Sam ostensibly sells popcorn and beverages. But what Sam really sells is his warm and engaging personality. His voice could melt butter on the coldest of winter's days. It is that soft and warm. And the light in his eyes will make your darkest day much brighter.

I visit him most every summer day when I am not travelling. Sometimes it is for Red Bull, unsalted popcorn and a dose of his levity and charm. But, other times it is just for my need; I tell him to hold the Red Bull and popcorn. Yes, he is that engaging.

Today's conversation had a slightly different tone than most days. Sam is an immigrant from Egypt. He came to the US nine years ago and has been a citizen of the US for the last five years. While he was calm as he describes his thoughts, to have him relay first hand the carnage that is happening in his motherland is to place one's heart in the back of one's throat. So far his family has stayed well out of harm's reach. For that he is thankful. But to say that the news from home has not occupied every cell in his body would be a false claim.

Tomorrow, I will carry on with Sam. Perhaps I can return a tad of the comfort and brightness he has supplied to me over the past five years.

Please see in large if you have the time.

Thank you for your kind visits and the like. I feel sheepish that I have not been here to return the blip-love.