Sunday

They didn't have grapefruit at the farmers market this morning, but I'll tell you what they did have - CHERRIES! Strawberries reappeared a few weeks ago, and I've been secretly hoping for this day for weeks, and today was the day! Cherries! Not only that, but they're really good. Mmm mmm mmm.

So, of course that necessitated a picnic in the park to eat the first of the season's cherries. And they were out of scones by the time I got to the market, so I first had to invent some scones in my oven quickly before heading out, and I think I like this batch.

Do you know what else is delicious right now - carrots. I ate right through the lemon hummus I bought last week and whipped up some garbanzo bean dip as a substitute one night last week with a lemon juice for kick. Then, a tuna sandwich from my oatmeal bread with lettuce from my very own window sill and two kumquats, a bottle of kombucha and I was off for the park to play a little banjo.

Not long after moving back into the sun, a gentleman dressed all in black plopped down on the grass not too far away. Do I play music on the guitar, he wanted to know. Is that a guitar? How do you call that? Banjo, I've heard of that. Tu parles un peut de français? (This is one of my favorite questions to be asked, by the way. That and being asked for directions). Oui, un peut, I say.

At which point he launches into a story about how he's a singer from la Côte d'Ivoire and he now he is living in Pleasanton with his ex-femme and is so tired and do I have any change, except he uses some slang french word for coins and I don't know what he's talking about, though I can guess. Je n'ai pas de monnaie avec moi, mais j'ai quelque carottes si tu en veux. He takes the carrot, fresh from the farmers market, still with its greens on top. Je m'appelle Abdoul. Comment tu t'appelles? Enchanté. He is a singer. Do I know any reggae songs? He will sing me a song en français. It is a love song. Tu connais ce chanson? Non, I say, shaking my head. Apparently it is by Claude something or other. I sing you something in English. Some reggae song. Tu comprends? Oui, I say. Je l'ai ecrit, he says. Eh bien, I say. He will sing me another song. This one is called no woman, no man. It is about a tree and a bird. He does hand gestures all the while, like a true street performer, though, I can see why he's still hungry. Do I play music with a group, he wants to know. Oui, as a matter of fact. Je m'en vais dans une heure. Ou non - plus tôt que ça. Quelques minutes. Do I really not have any change? Pas aujourd'hui, non, mais j'ai quelque carrotes de plus... he does not want them. He will go to look for money elsewhere. Bonne chance, I say.

And that is that.