An e-mail from Ellen, my farm roomie.
I wave to this guy almost every day (It will make sense if you listen to the segment. So do it! Listen.)

Subject: every once in a while
Date: May 30, 2007

something really unbelievable happens in my life.

last night, after being away from north carolina for a week, i returned home and caught the last act of "the story" on npr. dick gordon, the host, was interviewing a woman who was talking about a simple daily encounter she had with a man on her route to work through rural north carolina. i was charmed and intrigued. it is such a beautifully told story, and it moved me even further when they suddenly named my road and i realized i was listening to a story about my own neighbor ricky, right across the road from me and my goats, in sort of the middle of nowhere.

i've often said that sometimes you need to know that something is art by simply putting a frame around it. this isn't an original observation. but it remains true; sometimes you just need a new perch from which to look at your life. sometimes you need to hear from a perfect stranger, over air waves shared by thousands of others, just how perfect your own neighbor is.

this is a story about a man that simply likes to wave. it's about fifteen minutes long. i encourage you to find the time:

- go to http://thestory.org/archive/
- scroll down to "TO HAVE A FRIEND" (tuesday, may 29), then click "Listen Here".
- the second story in this segment, at exactly 32 minutes in, is the lovely story i get to see each and every morning.