AmeriCorps Volunteer Andy Carlson talks with his neighbor Pedro. (photo: Joshua Longbrake)
This past August, as part of the Seattle Times
collaborative project on family homelessness, Aurora|Seattle contributed an essay entitled, "
Vacating Homelessness," which featured, among other things, the story of a
weekly neighborhood BBQ just off Aurora near 90th Street.
Apparently, the cold weather hasn't meant an end to the neighborhood feasts...
In the spirit of Thanksgiving gratitude, neighborhood resident Andy Carlson, who is serving as an AmeriCorps Volunteer along Aurora through the soon-to-open Aurora Commons, sent Aurora|Seattle the following brief story of a moment he's thankful for:
Here’s a moment I’m thankful for:
On Halloween I was walking down the sidewalk near my home at 90th and Aurora, following my nose toward the smell of BBQ, and I came up on a crowd of people gathered under and around a large green canopy. I saw my friend Joel right away, a middle-aged man with a boyish smile and a well-crafted mullet, who called out to me, “I hope you’re hungry!” He was standing by the tailgate of a pickup turning over hotdogs on a miniature charcoal grill and stirring a cauldron of homemade chili. He summoned me to come get some food, which really meant, “come stand in the midst of this improbable assortment of neighbors and be blessed.”
Hospitality had been wrapped around every detail of the occasion, which was pretty good for a group of guys. Al had carefully rearranged his vintage Datsun collection so we could all fit in his driveway; Scott and Brian had spent the whole day gathering imaginative ingredients and brewing up that batch of chili; and Joel was working the grill. They had a table set up, spread with an array of cutlery and snacks, and some potluck style side items from folks who had gotten caught up in the hospitable breeze. A young boy had done the decorating, and you could catch him once in a while looking up from his handheld video game to see what people were thinking of the scowling faces he had spent the afternoon carving into pumpkins. And these guys really had brought people together in a way you don’t see every day, to mingle as transients and neighborhood residents, people with homes and people with no shelter to speak of, a young family with kids dressed up for trick-or-treating and an older woman who no longer speaks with her family.
Joel gave me some instructions: “Go get a plate and put a bun on it, then come over here and I’ll give you a hotdog and a big scoop of chili.” I followed his rules to the letter, inviting the food’s warmth while marveling with a neighbor I hadn’t known before that someone would set up a sidewalk BBQ on Halloween and awaken us to our subliminally beautiful neighbors. And it dawned on me in that moment that we had our gratitude in common.
Thanks Andy!
Have any neighbors or neighborhood experiences that you're thankful for? Send your stories to auroraseattleblog[at]gmail.com.
