Blessed Times and Thankfulness

This week I needed some work done on my car, so I dropped it off at Cummings Auto on Spring Garden Street. That's a good location because a) They seem to do good work and they're not sketchy b) it's within walking distance of a number of good locations where you can kill time while your car's in the shop.

It was a clear, cold day - hat AND scarf weather. I paused in the Cummings parking lot after handing over my key and sorted my options. I decided to visit Jake Midnight first, and walk down to the Coffee Break if he wasn't home. When I stepped onto his porch, I could see Jake standing in front of the wood stove in his living room.

Inside, it was nice and warm. The couch was gone and a sleeping bag near the wood stove seemed to have replaced it. Jake stretched out on that, and his big black dog stretched out beside him. They looked really cute together. I sat in a chair and we talked about people we know, who's been sick and who's where and what they're doing and so forth. Then Galina came in from the kitchen and she sat on the sleeping bag while she played guitar and sang two songs she's written recently. They were pretty good, kind of wistful but in a "cest la vie" way, not an "I'm a cutter and I need antidepressants" way. Jake accompanied her on harmonica for one. Then he played a song on the piano.

He asked if I wanted some homemade applesauce - who could turn that down? And he brought me a bowl of said applesauce with whole almonds and a little yogurt to garnish. Never in a million years would I have put all that together as a tasty combination, but it sure was. Then Jake made me some mate tea sweetened with honey. I noticed no activity outside the hive in front of the dining room window, and he said all his bees died. Sucks.

I hadn't seen them in a while, and it was nice to catch up. All this made me feel like the universe was cradling me in loving arms, which was nice because I was distressed about having to spend hundreds of dollars on car repair.

But when I went back to the auto shop the bill was $30. Bless you Cummings Auto! And thanks, Jake and Galina!