The Kindness of Strangers

Where I live there are two beaches. One is accessed through two little footpaths and the other has a small, gravel resident parking lot and boat launch.


The area is filled with wild sweet peas and beach roses. The neighbors have set out big pots along the lot edge and planted geraniums, too.



Some people who know the area like to take a detour off Scenic 1-A and drive along Seaview Avenue to take in the view. It is a slightly sloping hill right down to the sea. If you love the bay, it is pretty impressive – you can see from Portsmouth to Jamestown. We also get birders who sit by the roadside with binoculars to watch the herons and egrets.


Recently, my neighbor was plating geraniums in the lot and a woman drove by for a look at the bay. She made a comment about the flowers and my neighbor said that she wished she had more because the few she had did not deter boaters from dropping trash into the flower pots. (I know, hard to believe, but some people are really thoughtless – even boaters) That was it and the woman drove off.


A little while later, the woman returned with a couple of dozen geranium plants! They were donated by Wickford Flowers. It turned out she works there. We don’t know her name but we thank her and Wickford Flowers very much. What a nice thing to do!