30 April | 11:52  |  Jonny the friendly lawyer

I live in Santa Monica, CA, many of whose streets have service alleys behind the houses. About 6 years ago, I chanced to look out the back window and watched the lady who lives in the house across the alley from us walk across the alley and hang a white plastic grocery bag on a chicken wire fence temporarily erected at the back of our lot while we were building an addition. I had never met this lady. She's probably about 75, lives with an adult son. I walked out and took the bag off the fence, and saw that it was filled with green vegetables including...zucchini. I took it across the alley and left it on the door of her back fence. I thought about asking the lady about it, but never got around to it. There might have been a terrific explanation for it, but I decided I didn't want to know what it was. Over time, I told myself that it was some kind of earthy good luck gesture intended to facilitate our building project. Or something. There are a lot of worse things you can leave in a plastic bag behind someone's house, I guess. Anyway, I didn't realize that furtive zucchini deposits were the rage until I logged on today. Thanks, Josh!