Last Sunday my friend texted me about a plant sale up the street. One block away.
“Did you check it out?”
“No, we just walked by quickly. But you should check it out, they’re plant people!”
I grabbed my keys & phone and went up immediately to see what was going on. There she was, the plant mama. Surrounded by pots, making a sign and chatting with a neighbor. There was a huge array of succulents and other plants lining the sidewalk.
There were no prices, but I got my hopes up for a large pot with a stonecrop in it. Plant mama finished her conversation with her neighbor, looked at me and said “big plant sale! everything has to go!” I thanked her, and after a quick circling around the pots I said “I like this one”.
“$10”
“$10??!!”
“Yes, I’m moving.”
“Where to?”
“Maine.”
I told her that I had just moved to SF from Seattle a few months ago. She kind of stood there for a moment, as if something didn’t compute, and said “I hear so many good things. People love Seattle.”
“I know. I do too. It’s beautiful. But we needed a change.”
I looked around at the sunny hills, the blue sky, the people walking their dogs.
“It’s so beautiful here.”
“I know. We want to be closer to family.”
Without saying another word about our lives, a plant exchanged hands. One person felt a little lighter getting rid of a possession, one person felt a little luckier to gain something beautiful.