Yesterday I posted a picture of Ernie Zolnai, a 90 year old man full of life. Meeting him is what I needed. I'm a pretty happy guy, but I've been feeling low lately. Meeting Ernie really jolted me into thinking about how good life is. He gave me an apple. At first I said -- oh no thanks I just had one, but then I thought--how odd--he is giving me an apple--I've been re-visiting my old imagery which an apple was a very very strong part of--it always was and it has represented everything from love to betrayal to my very being and soul in my paintings and drawings. And here--this man who doesn't know me, chooses to give me an apple out of the blue. It was really quite beautiful actually. I wasn't sure what to do with the apple, but decided today to eat it and when I was done I noticed how the core resembled the way I'd been feeling lately. I then realized that the core is still intact and inside the core are seeds. Seeds are hope! Seeds will grow and life goes on..... this is quite a beautiful gift that Ernie gave to me. I hope he likes his picture when it appears in the paper later this week! Photograph by Richard Sayer