Asheville Bike Taxi

Cool October eve in Asheville. Children playing in the front yard after school. Parents jogging or speed walking, one at a time. Clouds shifting. Leaves turning. Air chilling.
One Jessie Lehmann catches a dream. Fly in a web. Spinning spider.
Her short legs pedal to full extension. Seat high. Ponytail swaying. Freak Show on the Dance Floor blasting. Fist pumping.

I take my place on the clean, new seat of the freshly awn-covered, golden sunflower hued Asheville Bike Taxi. I feel the chilly breeze on my face and the smiles of the neighborhood children and joggers as we cruise. The peace sign Jessie is flinging to passersby is no joke. The smiles are flowing like the waters of the French Broad. True. Simple. Elemental. I can't stop laughing and clapping to the beat. Unadulterated fun.

We tote a couple of groups of kids up and down the road. A 3-year-old rides on her older sister's lap, mouth hanging open in awe. By the end of the ride she is dancing with her head and grinning. An 8-year-old boy runs alongside the bike taxi, attempting to high five his budding riding. The funk is perpetuated. Fists are pumped in the air enthusiastically. People love this yellow pedal and sun-powered mobile!

After a while the ride is over, and the taxi gets safely tucked into the shed. Smiles all around. "Welcome to my new life," I am told.

There is magic in America yet. Don't let them convince you otherwise.

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www.ashevillebiketaxi.com

Tuberose in unicorner

I'm no artist, but I know something awesome when I see it. I was stopped in my bustling tracks yesterday morning by the glimpse of ths tuberose shadow on the wall of my Unicorner, which is at the top of the stairwell, and, yes, is a place for unicorns. My friend SM gave me the tuberose bulbs earlier this year, and I planted 3 of them in a small planter in the greenhouse, with the hope that they would bloom and I could bring them in the house to perfume my room with their nightly aroma. This here is the shadow of the first bloom. Its scent is infinitely reminiscent of things dark and hidden and magical, its thick sweetness almost too heavy to bear. It smells like hope and loss and serotinal moonlight. It smells like the stuff dreams are made of, finding a perfect residence in the Unicorner.