the rix mix

All the years I've lived in this neighborhood, I'd never done more than wave at & say "Hello Father' to the old  Russian Orthodox priest around the corner. He  pastors a beautiful golden dome church filled with wonderful icons, but a church that doesn't see much action except on major holidays. I've sat quietly for a few minutes  several times in a back pew when he had the doors open on weekday afternoons, so he knows I appreciate his church.  The priest resides across the street in an apartment above the social center. On warm evenings he sits out front on a folding chair. He used to plant &  tend flowers in large planters, but now he has to get around  slowly, bent over on a walker. Takes him five minutes to cross the street & more than that to go from one end of his church sanctuary to the other.

Last week I saw him wrestling a garbage can to curbside. I took it from him. It wasn't heavy - recyclables. I pointed at his walker & joked, "You should put a seat & a motor on that."

 He replied - the first words I ever heard from him, "Ah, then I'd be sittin' on my tukus all day."

Labels: Elizabeth NJ, photograph, religion