“Hey…” she said, “go give that guy a water bottle.”
The homeless man she was nodding toward was sitting on a bench with an overstuffed shopping cart.
“Man,” I chided myself as I made my way toward him with my water in tow, “I didn’t even see this guy. She’s better at this than I am!”
Later, I smiled as she beckoned a waitress in a conspiratorial tone. ?See that older couple at the table on the other side of the dining room?” she asked, “Do you think you can put their meal on our bill, please? Don’t tell them though, it might be seen as a bit creepy.”
The couple, previously invisible to me, was sharing a small meal and positively glowed as the waitress removed their bill.
She’s much better at this than me!
Using her Facebook account, my wife gathered donations of soap, shampoo, lotions, and other toiletry items to place in bags to distribute with the water bottles. As we sat at the table at home, she commented “I read your blog…I had no idea you talked about me so much.”
“Of course,” I affirmed, “All of my best ideas came from you.” In fact, it would be helpful if you would choose a name so I can stop referring to you constantly as “My Wife” when I write.
She thought for a second. She bounced around names of muses, mythological deities, and a few Shakespearean characters. Finally, she decided.
“Watson!” she exclaimed proudly. Soon, she had determined her logo. The silhouette of a Victorian gentleman with a bowler making an “At-Your-Service” bow. It was humble, and emphasized her service orientation.
While stuffing the bags, she thought of the Rook labels that I place on the water bottles.
“Perhaps we should label these bags with both of our logos.” She mused.
She had indeed done most of the work with these.
“True. However, many RLSHs, when they combine forces, often form a kind of team, with a new logo.”
“Yes, but just two of us, we hardly constitute a ‘team,’ and I really don’t want to form a team with a bunch of people I don’t know.” She confessed.
A new voice joined the conversation. Our daugther’s fiancee’, who sidled up to the table and began stuffing bags noted “I’ve already chosen my name…Sage.”
“Nice!” I nodded, “It’s a plant indigenous to this area, it is often used for cleansing, and has a double-meaning for wisdom.”
My daughter wasn’t too far behind. “My name’s always been ‘Ember.’ I’ll use that one.”
I grinned over at my wife and she nodded.
It looks like we have a team now.
Soon, our new RLSH group had chosen a name (Desert Sage), adopted a logo (a simple line drawing of a sage leaf) and made plans to create a Facebook page to generate awareness, contributions, and support. Alas, “Desert Sage” was taken in Facebook, so we had to create it under a different name. The RLSH team Desert Sage, consisting of Watson, Ember, Sage, and myself can be contacted at the “Arid Sage” Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Desert-Sage/226532500791094
Rook
