Living in a city, you hear thumping and shouting outside, sometimes. You never know what’s going on until you look. It could be a fight, people getting into an Uber, some demolition, or a new construction job. Every once in a while it’s a drum corps, or a block party. 

Today, it was a big beat-up tipper truck parking in front of my neighbor Charlie’s house, with guys in yellow vests  milling around. One of the guys was putting down some orange cones to save a space behind the truck in front of my house. A Philadelphia Housing Authority van was further up the street. 

I asked the guy putting out the cones, “What are you doing today?”

He turned toward me, peering out from his hoodie. “We’re killing some trees!” he said affably.

“Oh, weed trees?” 

“Yeah. People should plant cherry trees, peach trees. You could bake peach pies. There’s nothing like a peach. Take them right off the tree, bite into them.” 

I agreed and went back inside. Fruit trees in Philly don’t produce pie fruit. The fruit drops on the sidewalk and rots, leaving brown spots. Also, I don’t bake. But it was a nice conversation. 

Things that grow well in the city are hardy, difficult to remove, and invasive. I will take that as an inspiration. Meanwhile, I know what the shouting and thumping is outside, so I can go back to what I was doing.