No Food Today

A few weeks ago, when I was still living in my old apartment, I walked over to my garden spot one morning and passed this sign in front of the little church on my street. It was a reminder that even in Princeton there are people who are hungry. And here I was, on my way to pick some fresh veggies from my garden. Well, with these thoughts fresh in my mind, I got to my garden and realized that someone had helped themselves to much of my ripe produce. About 5 early girl tomatoes, the only 2 green bell peppers that decided to grow this year, and possibly some green beans and cucumbers. I was really angry at first, especially about the bell peppers because they were the only two I had. Then I took a deep breath and hoped that whoever took these veggies was using them to make something delicious and healthy, possibly to fill some of those hungry bellies.

My old neighborhood was what some people referred to as the "ghetto" of Princeton. When I moved there I was told that I had to be careful walking around at night, that it wasn't a good neighborhood. The truth is, that neighborhood is full of families, hard working people and probably a bad egg or two. It's full of wonderful smells from kitchens and little restaurants, kids laughing and playing in back yards, teenagers riding their bikes too fast on the sidewalk and day workers waiting for some landscaping or other work. Granted, it's not the huge houses on Library Lane (just 2 blocks away) or manicured lawns that people associate with Princeton, but it is a good, solid neighborhood with a lot of history (Paul Robeson grew up there). It is also the kind of neighborhood where little churches feed people who are hungry (when they can) and where someone helped themselves to some of my veggies. And I'm OK with that.