Mrs.O's writing room.

I saw a man in a snow white shirt this afternoon. He had a big beautiful butterfly sitting on his shoulder. The color contrast was fantastic. For a second I thought it was a huge lapel pin until it flapped its wings. I gasped! Then I thought it was his “pet butterfly” because he didn’t seem to mind it. My excitement caused one other passenger to bring it to his attention. He threw it off while I frantically struggled to get out my camera for the perfect shot pleading with him to let it stay. My selfish human condition was exposed. He probably thought I was crazy. We all kept our eyes on the butterfly until the train came to a stop. He picked it up. Two times he threw it up and two times it came right back down. It couldn’t fly. A young girl, around 16 years old came over and held it. Girl: Oh what a beautiful butterfly. It wants to commit suicide on the tracks. Her Mum: Butterflies have a shot life span, we need to find a place to put it. They decided to place ...

This corner of Farrugut North is full of life: people commute back and forth, cars zoom by, beggars ask for help, newspaper vendors and fruit sellers all seek our attention. But nothing gets people to stop like good music. Live bands, opera singers, violin players, boys trying to make raise funds for tuition - it's a variety really. Yesterday a crowd gathered as these young men played Pharell's "Happy" and Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time". No one cared much for the suppressive heat, or places they had to go. They stood and listened, bobbed along and dropped a little something into the bucket. The man without a shirt and the old lady caught my attention as they reveled in the music, their cares shelved for this moment.

I walked into a Giant Supermarket the other day and saw dark purple bulbs that looked like passion fruits . I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I looked closer and indeed they were passion fruits. We celebrated like we had found a gold mine. I scooped the core clean, leaving no seed to waste. The result was just right. We savored every last drop. “Don’t drink it too fast. Take little sips, then think about something else. Then when you remember it’s there you’ll be  very excited and it will be fresh again.” No prizes for guessing who said this. My little girl on the other hand could not believe we could make juice at home. Spare a thought for us when you next drink this passion at leisure (for those of you, especially my friends in Uganda ).  Did you know its scientific name is “Passiflora edulis”? Well, just in case.