While on my mail run last week I noticed an upturned bird bath on the side of the street. When people put stuff on the side of the road here it usually means that they are offering it to people for free. They don't want it, can't be bothered sticking it on TradeMe or Marketplace, and so they just leave it on the side of the road.
This was the case but it was so nice and I figured that maybe the person had left it on the side of the road for a friend to pick up. So I went to the house to check but they weren't home. So I carried on the run and decided to come back later.
I returned later in the day but the person was still away from the house so I left a little note. I did not hear back from them so I figured I'll leave it for a day or so and if it's still there I'll grab it.
The next day I was having lunch then I received a phone call. I explained the reason for my note. She told me it was her mum's but she had passed away and she inherited it. She was in two minds about giving it away but when I explained that we were looking for a bird bath to attract the birds she was more than happy with us taking them. She just didn't want someone to take them and sell them on Marketplace or TradeMe.
Sometimes you just have to ask the question. She was so happy with such a little note that it helped her to decide that we were the right ones to carry on her mother's legacy. As such she offered us another bird bath for our garden.
We never know where our questions lead. Maybe the answer was "No" but that's not a loss, it's really a gain. You asked, you got an answer, you now know something you didn't before. I asked and made two women happy - the one giving away the bird bath and my wife who wanted a bird bath to attract more birds.
