A street, near where I live, has your typical stand of houses. Maybe a dozen or so, as I never counted them, of various sizes, costs, and levels of repair and upkeep. That's the funny thing about Tennessee. You can find old rotting houses right next to half million dollar homes with multi-car garages and manicured lawns. It's normal...
This one house that I'm thinking of is small. Seems to be lived in by a young mother, her child., and a very pretty pit bull looking dog. I do not know what her situation was, or is, but her old conversion van and poorly kept yard tells me she isn't bringing down the big bucks.... The yard was usually in a bit of disarray with some weeds, needing trimmed, and grass that didn't get cut often. Now, don't get me wrong, as I am not throwing down on the girl. My yard gets mowed once a month and the bulk of my garden bed is still sporting last years dead mater plants. In this case, it is just sort of obvious to me that the yard is not the most important thing in her day...
Now enter the "scraggly weed eating waving guy". I am not sure if he was homeless or not. He never makes a ruckus, almost always waves as I drive by and is always picking up trash and sort of keeping the side of this little road neater and tidier than most. He never drives. Always walking...
One day we noticed that the scraggly guy seemed to be hanging out a bit at the girl's house. A lot actually. Suddenly her yard was well groomed, grass cut, no weeds around fence - you get the picture. Now she even has a small, very neat, vegetable garden put in. Scraggly guy was, and is, there so much that it looks like he is living with her. Could be....
He still doesn't seem to own a razor or know where the barber is... And he dresses like it is winter.
Now, in the perfect world, the story would continue this way:
As a little time passes, the yard starts sporting a little more actual landscaping. Simple, but nice. Area neighbors notice and start stopping on the road and conversing over the fence. Asking who was taking care of her yard space. As more time goes on, they learn it is scraggly man, whose actual name is Jonathan. They offer Jonathan money to take care of their little micro-worlds using their mowers and trimmers. These folks, of various means, are so busy working to earn a living, they just wish to skip the yard work, and paying what little he asks for seems a huge bargain. Many do not have the money needed to pay the typical lawn company. One by one the word spreads to area folks about how Jonathan will happily do the work for a very reasonable price. A price no one can argue with and most are happy to pay. The art of the yard is his passion, even if he doesn't know the word "passion".
Over the next year Jonathan starts earning enough money to contribute to the household of this girl and her son. She is able to purchase a reliable and economical vehicle as a result.
Eventually, the girl starts managing Jonathan's money. He is able to purchase his own modest equipment and she drives him to various homes a little further out. She quits her job as she is able to help him as they move from one home to the next, spreading neatness, flowers, and time....
The girl spends more time with her son because she isn't spending long hours at a thankless job.
A homeless man succeeds in supporting himself and a family. Not his family, but folks who took him in.
A wonderful success story arises from two adults helping one another to not only survive, but thrive.
The first part of this was what 'seems' to be occurring at the end of the driveway. The rest is just what I conjured up with my very over active imagination...
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