Tag Archives: community

Reminders from the Cosmos

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Fairhaven was all green and sparkling this morning. Everything looked fresh and new. I found wonderful magic up there today.

I got up there early enough that I could get free parking for a couple hours. I parked near the Village Green and then – because the trail is still closed between Fairhaven and Taylor Dock – I hiked up a block and then over and down to the gateway to the boardwalk.

There was a gentleman sitting on a bench there with a big backpacking pack and a couple bags, and, as we watched a little bird flitting around under the gateway, we struck up conversation. I learned his name was Mountain Wiserd. He noticed my amber necklace and told me about the rocks and fossils he’s found on his travels. He told me about a piece of amber he’d once found that had a mosquito in it – the mosquito made the amber special, and a museum had bought it from him. He’d also found a fossilized tooth from some kind of dinosaur with a duck bill – and his find had led scientists to the site, where they’d found a whole skeleton, as well as a prehistoric nest.

Mountain asked me if I could buy him a coffee and some food. I told him sure, and we walked together down the boardwalk and to Wood’s Coffee shop in Boulevard park, where I bought Mountain a coffee and a sandwich, and bought myself a lavender green iced tea. We hugged and parted there – Mountain to go to the second floor of Wood’s to eat his sandwich, and me to continue on my walk.

As I was beginning my walk back to the boardwalk, I saw that the new picnic table that’s been roped off while the baby grass grows around it, is now officially available for use. I’ve long been awaiting my inaugural use of the table, and headed that way. Two of the maintenance crew sprucing up the park were standing nearby, and I told them how excited I was to finally use the picnic table. I asked them if I could take a picture – “I’m a Boomer, so this will probably end up on Facebook.” And they laughed and graciously agreed to let me take their photo. I asked them their names – Kyle and Armando – and introduced myself to them. “I am a Boomer AND I’m named Karen.” They started laughing, and posed for me in front of the picnic table.

I settled into the picnic table with my tea and scrolled through the notifications on my phone. I could hear Kyle and Armando chatting in the background, and at one point I heard Armando tell Kyle that “Leo” was his brother. I perked up when I heard Leo’s name. Leo is the man who keeps Boulevard Park and the Village Green clean and functioning. I told Armando that I’d just seen Leo getting the restrooms above Taylor Dock ready for a new day, and I told him that Leo is one of my favorite Bellingham people.

After I’d sat at the picnic table for a bit, I got back onto the boardwalk and headed back to Fairhaven. I met little Charlie pup and gave him a pet, and my old friend, Dan, appeared with Jakada pup. Dan and I hugged and wished each other a good day, and I went on up the ramp from Taylor Dock, up a block to by-pass the trail closure, and back down to my car.

My entire walk I felt like I was enclosed in this peaceful bubble of Love – greeting Leo, meeting Mountain Wiserd, chatting with Armando and Kyle, giving sweet Charlie pup a pet, and running into Dan and Jakada.

I’m so grateful for these reminders from the Cosmos that the world is still a beautiful place.

Tearing Up at the Sweetness of It

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I just have to share this quick glimmer I experienced today in Fred Meyer’s. I put myself in line behind a little family – a mother, a girl of grade school age, and a little boy sitting in the seat in the shopping cart. The little boy was shaking a tube of candy and making it rattle, and he was having such fun with that, I found myself grinning as I watched him. I asked him how old he was – and I held up two fingers and then three – “Two? Three?” He held up three fingers in response, and said, “Three.” I told him my granddaughter was going to be three in a couple months, too. The little boy’s mother turned around and smiled at me then. She knew she was looking at a grandma.

I asked the little girl if she was a big sister, and she smiled and nodded her head. I told her I was a big sister, too – I have two little brothers, and I know what it means to be the “big sister.” I told her I could tell she was a good big sister, and she smiled.

The mother and daughter talked in Spanish for a moment, then I saw the little girl get out her own wallet. The mother had already paid for her groceries, but now the little girl was going to pay herself for her own art supplies. Her mother patiently helped her count out the money – one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten – the total for the purchase had been $9.93 – so now the mother and daughter counted out three pennies, so that the little girl would get a dime back. They carefully put the cash and pennies in the cashier’s hand, and the cashier smiled and placed a dime back in the little girl’s hand.

And I can’t even tell you what there was about this exchange that so touched me, but I found myself tearing up at the sweetness of it.

Six Decades of Friendship

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What a wonderfully surreal and fabulous day!

I drove from my home near Bellingham down to Olympia to visit with my FIFTH GRADE TEACHER (!!!) and two of my fifth grade classmates – people I’ve known for almost 60 years, but only reconnected with seven years ago. We hadn’t seen each other in the person since our visit with each other back in 2019 – separated by seven years that included the death of my dad, the death of Sue’s mom, Susan’s marriage to Sam, a new granddaughter for me, and a world-changing pandemic.

And oh! It was so good to be with my grade school people again!

I got to Olympia about an hour early, and thought I’d check out the Olympia Farmer’s Market. I met Talbot, who was selling cool artsy candles, and who, I learned, was a friend of one of my Bellingham friends. (I love these connections!) I bought one of his candles – a little snail – which I plan to light only sparingly. It’s too beautiful to let it melt away.

When I got done exploring the Farmers Market, I gave a call to my brother, Dave, who lives in Olympia. I hadn’t called him before because I’d assumed he’d be doing some ultra marathon running thing this Memorial weekend – but, when he picked up, he told me he’d just finished up shopping downtown and could meet me at the Farmers Market in, like, five minutes! So not only did I get to see my old fifth grade teacher and friends, but I got to have a quick visit with my “little” bro, too! (He suggested I stand on a rock for our picture because he is, like, a foot taller than me.)

A couple of fun people things I have to share:

When I got to Lacey, I exited to make a stop at the Safeway for a mocha and a restroom break. Something happened to me there that I don’t think has ever happened to me before – I stepped out of the women’s restroom at the exact moment a bearded and “flanneled” man of about 40 stepped out of the men’s restroom opposite. We looked at each other and spontaneously grinned. It was one of those awkward moments where you find out if someone has a sense of humor or not. He had a sense of humor. I really appreciated that grin.

I’d parked my car at the Farmer’s Market. When I got back to my car after my visit with my friends, a young family had just arrived at their car, too. I asked the father if I could get back on the freeway by going that direction, and I pointed east. He smiled and came over to me with his phone. He opened up a map on his phone and showed me what route he was going to take to get back on I-5. He was kind and helpful and treated me exactly as I hope my sons treat other lost women of a certain age. I shook his hand and thanked him, and asked his name. He told me he was Maurice. He asked my name and I gave my standard line, “I am, of course, Karen” and he started laughing.

I’d found an old Simon and Garfunkle CD before I’d left home this morning, and now I listened to it on my drive back to Skagit County. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” got me through the traffic jam in Seattle. Simon and Garfunkle’s magic still works!

P.S. Do you see the watercolor in the group photo? That was a painting Dad gave to Sue Lyon’s mom years ago, and Sue gifted it back to me yesterday – she thought it should be reunited with my family. That really touched me.

“I Really Need a Smile Today”

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Okay, so I was a little obnoxious yesterday. (But what else is new, right?)

In the last week, I’ve noticed that people aren’t as quick to exchange smiles with me as they used to be. At first I took this personally – thought there might be something wrong with my appearance in some way – but I quickly rid myself of that notion – I mean, I’m as glorious as ever, right?

It occurred to me that maybe folks are really struggling right now and that smiles are just really hard for them to summon up. I decided it was time to bring out all my weapons of kindness.

I made a quick stop at one supermarket to use their restroom and see if they had a couple items I was looking for. There’s an employee storage room kitty corner to the restroom and I smiled at a man standing in the door to the storage room and he… well, he didn’t smile back. And then another employee came out of the restroom and I smiled at her, and again, nada. I smiled at a third employee who was stocking stuff, and got nothing. So I asked her – in just a chatty way – “People don’t smile any more, do they?” And SHE SMILED A BRILLIANT SMILE, and said that she’s noticed that, too.

I found the items I was looking for and went to the self-checkout. I smiled at the woman who was overseeing the checkout, and got nothing. So I scanned all my items and paid, with her in the background watching. And then I asked her about the bag I’d brought in for my groceries – it used to be when I’d put it in the bagging area after I’d rung my items up, that I’d be tagged by security as trying to steal the bag – was that going to happen now? She SMILED and said they’d changed things, so that wouldn’t happen anymore. I told her I’d known I’d be okay because she’d been watching me and knew what I was up to, and she laughed. I thanked her for doing such a good job, and she smiled again, and pointed at my shopping bag. It says “DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS” on it and she wondered if I was a traveling doctor. I told her no, but I donate to the group. And she thanked me for doing that.

I wheeled my groceries out to my car. I noticed a man of about my age, wearing a safety vest, was cleaning up the parking lot with one of those stick things. I wheeled my cart to the cart corral, and then got in my car and rolled down the window to speak to him. “Thank you,” I said. “Thank you for keeping the parking lot clean.” He looked surprised that I’d even noticed him, and smiled. He told me he was actually a store clerk, but his hours had been cut recently, and he’d been off work for a while. He’d just gotten called back to do what he was doing. I thanked him again for doing such a good job, and he smiled.

Now in another superstore, I smiled at a woman of about my age, and got a blank stare in return. I decided to try a different tack. “Hello,” I said to her. She turned and looked at me then, AND SMILED. “I just needed someone to smile at me, and you looked like someone who would do that,” I said to her. She grinned then, and nodded, and gave me a beautiful smile.

Maybe in these interesting and challenging times, when it comes to smiles, sometimes I just need to be explicit: “I really need a smile today.”

“During this final conflict, wicked minds will endeavor to find means by which to accomplish more evil; but those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection.”
Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 97

Happy Earth Day!

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Happy Earth Day!

I celebrated Earth Day in Fairhaven today, and it was glorious! My day was filled with green paths, spring blossoms, and happy earthlings – a squirrel, a robin, a towhee, a couple of deer, and some way cool humans.

I parked in front of The Landing at Evil Bike store, and took the trail up to the path that goes to the Post Point dog park and the heron rookery. There weren’t any pups in the dog park, and there weren’t any herons in the rookery, either. But there was a towhee on a branch, and a robin in the crook of a tree, and a hummingbird on a fence three feet away – flexing his wings, and posing – who flew away as soon as my camera focused on him.

I walked on down to Fairhaven Coffee, where Lauren fixed me a honey and cinnamon latte, while we chatted about her experience as a scuba diver and her hope to one day do underwater photography. She made me an excellent latte, and I sat down with it at one of the tables.

At the table next to mine, three gentlemen were talking about subatomic particles, how they relate and communicate to each other, and what it is that defines life. Whoah.

“Are you talking about quantum physics?” I asked, intrigued.

They nodded their heads, and one of them explained that they were talking, specifically, about consciousness. And then I threw in my thoughts about a universal consciousness of Love, and, to their credit, they did not laugh at me. We talked about teaching, and science, and outer space, and the viability of colonizing Mars, and species going extinct, global warming, glaciation, and how the land is slowly rising after being flattened from years of being covered in ice. Marshall, Mitchell, and Larry were fascinating. They seemed the perfect people to be chatting with on Earth Day.

I walked to the ferry terminal, and then down to Marine Park, and headed back to the Post Point rookery and dog park. At the sign leading into the rookery, I paused to ask a gentleman about the Arroyo Park trail that was listed on the sign. We got to chatting, and he learned I live in Bow. Bill said he used to go to the Edison Inn all the time, but he hadn’t been for a while and he wasn’t sure if everything was the same. I told him Edison is a foodie heaven – we have the Edison Inn, Tweets, Mariposa, Terramar for pizza…

… and Bill said, “And Breadfarm!”

…and I said, “And Slough Food!”

Bill was fun. He was wearing a hat that said: “It’s weird being the same age as old people!” That got me cracking up. I could relate.

Bill continued on his walk, and I continued on mine.

A runner went by me at a good clip. My sons had been x-country runners in school. I’d gone to a lot of their meets, and I could recognize good runner’s form when i saw it. This runner was good!

When I got to the dog park, I could see the runner was doing laps around the park, and, as he went past, I snapped a couple photos. I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to use the photos, though, because – even though the runner had grinned at me and my camera as he ran past – I hadn’t officially gotten his permission.

I continued on my walk and, when I got back to The Landing at Evil Bike shop, who should I see running towards me from the opposite direction but the runner I’d seen in the dog park? He stopped and chatted with me – I learned his name is Ian and he ran for WWU – but he said he was now “retired.” He said it was fine to post his picture.

I decided to take Chuckanut back to my home, and this is when I saw the deer casually grazing on the lawn in front of Fairhaven Park. It seemed fitting that they should be there on Earth Day.

“EARTH. A sphere; a type of eternity and immortality, which are likewise without beginning or end.
To material sense, earth is matter; to spiritual sense, it is a compound idea.“
-Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health, p. 585

Apple Blossoms, Birdsong, Raspberry Pie, a Baby, AND Live Music!

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I rode my bike to the post office to mail off a card to a friend whose husband has just passed, and then went on into Edison to stop by and see another friend, Maggie, who’d recently lost HER husband. Even though Maggie and I live just a bike ride away from each other, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other. It was good to connect with her again. We hugged, and Maggie invited me into her house for a quick chat. I love Maggie’s home – as she said, it has “ambiance.” It’s one of those houses that’s probably 100 years old, full of history and cool side rooms.

As Maggie and I talked, her cat wound through my legs and then hopped up on Maggie’s lap and curled into a ball. Maggie has a bird feeder hanging from an apple tree outside her window, and I watched goldfinches, red-winged blackbirds, and red-hooded house finches flitting around in the apple tree. Every now and then a bird would stop and peer in the window, and it looked to me like the birds were asking to be fed. Maggie laughed and said she has to fill that feeder up daily to keep those birds happy.

After I left Maggie, I saw that Tweets Cafe was open. I decided to park my bike in front of it and get myself a treat.

A customer in front of me had ordered a raspberry pie with cream, and, once I saw that, I knew what I was going to get.

I took my pie out to a picnic table in the little green between Tweets and the Mariposa Restaurant. Oh, my friends, it was so peaceful there. I sat on the bench and listened to the birdsong and watched the sparrows hopping around in the apple blossoms above me.

Pretty soon a little family came out to the green – mama, papa, and four-month-old baby. I learned that Louie’s parents – Ali and Stephen – had come down from Bellingham, and that they were both nurses at Saint Joe’s. They let me touch Louie’s hand and he wrapped his little fingers around my finger. Awww…

Apple blossoms, birdsong, raspberry pie, AND a baby! Life does not get much better than that.

As I was leaving Tweets, I saw that a duo of musicians had set themselves in front of the restaurant and were playing a lively tune with a fiddle and guitar. I found myself grinning. Apple blossoms, birdsong, raspberry pie, a baby, AND live music!

I left the duo a tip in their hat, and then got back on my bike for the ride home – feeling refreshed and soul-filled from my excursion into town.

Edit: David Holzemer on violin/fiddle. Still hoping to learn who’s on guitar.

Here’s a link to the video I took of the musicians outside of Tweets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuFLuYnpjNE

What Are the Odds of THAT?!

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So this really cosmic thing happened today on the boardwalk. I was walking along, enjoying the sunshine and the people and the pups – my old friend, Baker pup; Archie and Buddy; Blue and Maverick; Murphy (who did his Buddha pose for me); and my old friend, little Daisy – and I had to stop and snap a picture of sweet Baker greeting someone on the boardwalk with his paws on the man’s chest – it was just so typical of friendly Baker. Baker always puts a smile on my face.

When the man caught up to me, I showed him the picture I’d taken of him and Baker, and asked him if it was okay to post it publicly. He smiled and thanked me and told me it was fine to post it. I asked him for his name, and he told me he was Ve. “Is that a Vietnamese name?” I asked him. Ve looked surprised that I would recognize a Vietnamese name, and I explained that my Australian daughter-in-law is of Vietnamese heritage, and that she and my son and granddaughter are all learning Vietnamese. Ve asked if they’d ever visited Vietnam, and I told him they’d gone a year ago to visit some of my daughter-in-law’s family who still live there. Ve told me then that his wife was there right now visiting her family while he stayed here and watched the children.

Then Ve said he was a “street photographer” and took pictures of people he met – and we realized we had that in common, too! He said he’d taken a photo a while ago of a pup named Bear and he’d made a card for Bear’s human. He’d been been looking for her for a couple months, but hadn’t run into her again. I asked him to describe Bear, and he took out the card he’d made and showed me Bear’s picture. I instantly recognized little Bear, and told him Bear’s human, Rebecca, was a good friend of mine! (What are the odds, right?!) I told Ve that I’d actually met Rebecca on the boardwalk several years ago (via little Bear), and had run into her again when I’d gone up to Mount Baker for a hike, and we’d become good friends! Ve’s face lit up in a big smile. He said he could totally see the two of us as friends, and asked me if I could get the card to Rebecca.

So on the way home, I stopped by Rebecca’s house to give her the card. She happened to pull into her driveway just after I got there, and I was able to deliver the card in person and get a hug, too!

Cosmic magic, my friends!

It Was Like My Whole Experience Had Been Choreographed

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From the moment I stepped out of my car in the Fred Meyer’s parking lot yesterday afternoon, to the moment I arrived back at my car after shopping, I felt surrounded in magic.

When I arrived, I grabbed a small shopping cart which someone had shoved under a tree in the parking lot, and waited to cross the pavement from where I’d parked to the sidewalk in front of Fred’s. A truck stopped for me, and I gave the driver a smile and a “go ahead” wave, and got a wave back. When the truck went on through, a woman came to the sidewalk, waiting to cross over to where I was standing. We smiled and waved at each other and executed a perfect cross-over together.

As I slowly weaved my way through the store, everyone I met – of every age and color and gender – exchanged a smile with me and treated me with kindness. And when I got to the produce section, a man glanced over at me and, in the same moment, we recognized each other. I scrabbled around in my memory and came up with the name “Matt!” Matt was a former co-worker of my husband’s at the Skagit Valley Herald, but had left his career as a photojournalist to teach full-time in Anacortes 15 or 16 years ago.

Matt’s wife, Jill, a second grade teacher in Anacortes, was there, too. When Matt went to introduce me to Jill, he said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember your name…” And that TOTALLY made my day! I have often been that person – the one who doesn’t remember the name – and I felt so proud that I hadn’t been that person THIS time. I thanked Matt for not remembering my name – told him it was reassuring that THIS time I won in the name-remembering thing, and Matt nodded and laughed with me about that. For the next little while Jill, Matt, and I exchanged stories about our teaching careers – talked and laughed and got caught up.

I noticed a young Fred Meyer employee stocking the bananas and intuitively turned to him and smiled. He grinned back at me and said yes, he had been listening into our conversation. Enrique said he wanted to be a school counselor someday – he wanted to be that person who helps students stay in school and get their diplomas – and he was enjoying our conversation about teaching. Enrique was so cool! He was excited about his future in education, excited about getting his degree, excited about helping others. Enrique gave me hope for the world.

When it was time for us to continue on with our shopping, I asked Jill if I could have a hug – because there’s nothing like the hug of a second grade teacher – and she laughed and gave me a bonafide second-grade-teacher hug, and I got a bonus hug from Matt, too.

I got in the checkout line behind a couple maybe in their eighties. I enjoyed watching the way they worked together as a team with their groceries. It occurred to me this couple had maybe been together fifty or sixty years. Watching them, I was kind of in awe of them.

A man came up behind me in the line with no groceries at all. I asked him if he’d like to go in front of me, and he said no, he just wanted to get a pack of smokes and he wasn’t in any hurry.

I turned back to the couple in front of me, just as my former dental hygienist (now retired), Misty, walked by with her husband. Her face lit up into a big grin when she saw me, and we waved at each other and blew each other kisses. Magic!

Now the older gentleman in the couple in front of me in line turned around and smiled and mouthed the word “sorry” – I think he was apologizing for his transaction taking so long – and I laughed and told him it was all good.

After I’d paid, I headed for the exit. I saw a woman in the lobby looking at the shopping carts – there were only a few large ones there. My groceries were not so heavy that I couldn’t get them back to my car without a cart, so I asked the woman if she’d like a small cart. She smiled and said she would. So I took my bag of groceries out of my cart and handed it off to her.

It was like my whole shopping experience had been choreographed or scripted or something: Enter stage right with a small shopping cart; exchange smiles with people; run into Matt and Jill; get into conversation with Enrique; get behind the sweet couple at the checkout stand; pass off the cart to the woman in the lobby; exit stage right.

Magic, my friends!

Good Times and Good People in La La Land

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March 22

I met so many outstanding people today.

At the Santa Monica Farmers Market, I met Jordan, who was selling honey and beeswax candles and art; Javier, selling juice and Mexican fruit; Jacob, selling baklava made by his Lebanese mom from an old family recipe; Nicholas, selling cheeses made locally; Natalie, a college student at Middlebury, who left the snow in Vermont to come our here and visit friends and soak in the rays, and who graciously let us join her at her table while she ate her lunch; and Tristan, in his most excellent “problem” cap – “Are you the…?” I asked, and “Yes, I am the problem,” he answered, laughing.

At a playground at Venice Beach I met Octavio, who was the DJ for a three-year-old’s birthday party there – keeping the background beat for the toddlers and the grown-ups alike.

And I met Shawn – who recently moved from the Netherlands with his family, and who was there in the playground with his two little ones while they played in the sand with the playground toys. I was impressed by Shawn’s parenting skills – I saw him set the boundaries for his children, and maintain those boundaries with laughter and consistency. “You like being a dad, don’t you?” I asked him, and he laughed, and nodded his head, and said he did, even in the chaos.

After Venice Beach we went to the aquarium and historic carousel on the Santa Monica Pier. My granddaughter touched a starfish and rode on a magnificent carousel horse, and I took many photos.

March 24

have to share these fine folks with you.

– Alex was the server at the Tacos San Miquel Arcangel Oaxacan restaurant we visited in Mar Vista. When he was serving our food, he noticed our toddler granddaughter had gotten some of the hot sauce into her food, and quickly pointed this out to us. As her eyes started watering up, he went back and fetched a brand new meal for her, without charge. I told him he was a hero.

– Daniel (LA cap) was our shuttle bus driver to LAX from the rental car building. After we settled into the seats behind the driver’s seat, I gathered up my courage, and said, “Okay. This is really embarrassing, but… we want to give you a tip, but all we’ve got are twenties. Can you give me back change for a twenty?” Daniel busted out laughing, and thanked me. He told me he could give me whatever change back I wanted. I asked for ten, and he pulled out a ten dollar bill from his tips and exchanged it for my twenty. Daniel was so cool – and I really appreciated his understanding of our situation.

– Once we got up to our plane’s waiting area, I looked for a seat that had a plug-in for my phone’s charger. I asked a young man in his late teens or early twenties if I could sit in the seat next to him to use his charger. He smiled and said sure. When he saw I was having a hard time figuring out how to plug my phone in, Edyson quietly plugged it in for me. I told Edyson how much I appreciated his kindness. Edyson gives me hope for our future.

– I’m always eager to see who our seatmate will be on the airplaine, and I was so happy when a smiling young man approached and introduced himself as the man in the window seat. Our new seatmate immediately opened the shade on his window. I told him how glad I was that he’d done that because I like looking out the window.

Grady and I started talking then about the landforms we can see from the plane – and I mentioned Mount Rainier. This is when I learned that Grady had climbed Rainier. I told him I’d climbed Rainier, too, decades ago – my dad (and…ahem… I MIGHT have mentioned that my dad is in Wikipedia for mountain climbing) had led me to the summits of Rainier and Baker and Adams and Hood when I was younger. Grady said that he’d climbed Mount Rainier when he worked there as a ranger – and I told Grady I had climbed it when I worked at Rainier, too!

I asked him what he’d majored in to get him in a position as a ranger. Grady said he’d majored in History – and I told him that had been my major, too! He said a lot of folks get into the park service with a degree in science, to do research. I told him my dad had majored in geology, and worked as a ranger and a guide at Rainier for several years.

THEN I learned that Grady now works in the North Cascades and I told him we lived in Skagit County. Whoah. And THEN I learned that his girlfriend works at Rainier now, and lives in Ashford, and he and his girlfriend know our good friends, Rick and Jana Johnson, who own the pottery shop there.

Connections, my friends! I love these connections – the new ones and the ones that connect us to the old ones, too.

Nudged by Love to Find the Magic

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March 9:
This morning a series of what seemed like random happenings led me to run into a friend I rarely see – and brought me such joy! Later, as I contemplated this, it felt, to me, that the entire way I had been led by Cosmic Love – nudged and guided to that surprise meeting with my friend. And it occurred to me that this kind of magic is happening to us all the time – that Love is continually guiding us to beautiful gifts. I am so grateful for all the good that fills my life.

So here’s what happened:

I’d gone off at sunrise to make a run to Fred’s to get something for a friend. I hadn’t gone far on my drive when I came upon an amazing reflection of the sunrise in a flooded field. Magic! I took some quick pictures and continued on my errand.

I found what I needed for my friend, bought myself some groceries while I was there, and then, on impulse, got myself one of those Lindt creamy chocolate bars, too. (That candy bar is going to appear later in the story.) When it came time to ring me up, the total came to $66.66. “Six six six six,” the cashier said. “Well, that’s kind of scary,” I said, laughing. My friend, Patty, who was just about to come in as a cashier, started laughing then, too. She reminded me that the week ends with a Friday the Thirteenth, too. “Let’s round it up for the food bank,” I said (I was going to do that, anyway), and everyone nodded their heads in agreement that this was a good plan.

I drove home – stopping at my friend’s house to deliver what I’d gotten for her – and, when I got home, started unpacking the rest of my groceries. When I got to the bottom of my canvas bag, I realized that my candy bar was missing. Huh. It was such a small thing, at first I thought I’d just chalk it off as one of those things that happens sometimes, and move on. But I finally decided I might as well call Fred’s and see if a candy bar had been left behind and turned in to their customer service people. I was embarrassed to make the call asking about a candy bar (!), but the customer service person asked, “Lindt? Extra creamy?” And when I confirmed this, she said it was sitting right there, waiting for me. Whoah. I told her I’d be right in to pick it up.

There was a small line at customer service. When the woman ahead of me got up to the desk she bought a Powerball and a Lotto ticket. Although I’ve bought a lotto ticket for Scott a couple times when he’s asked me to – I have never, in my life, bought a lotto ticket for myself. I was kind of intrigued by the idea of it. The Mega Millions one is up to $533 million now. I started fantasizing about what it would be like to win something like that.

Anyway. So when it was my turn at the customer service desk, I announced myself as “the candy bar lady” and said I was really embarrassed about this. The customer service woman started laughing, and assured me that this kind of thing happens all the time, and handed me my Lindt bar.

I brought my candy out to the car, but then I thought again about that Powerball thing. It is a weird week with Friday the 13th and everything, and maybe, for me, it would be a LUCKY week. So I threw my Lindt bar into the car, and then headed back in to Fred’s to get myself one of them there Mega Million thingies – a vision of stacks of money tickling my brain.

When I got to the lobby, my friend, Amanda, entered from the other door – and there we were! It was so good to see her again! Amanda is one of those people that just exudes joy and kindness – and anyone blessed to be in her presence, feels it. I told her I was on my way in to buy a Lotto ticket of some kind, but I wasn’t really sure how to do it. She said her dad buys Lotto tickets sometimes, and walked me through what I needed to say to the clerk. I thanked Amanda, and started to turn away to go get a Lotto ticket, when I realized that being led to come back into the store hadn’t been about getting a Lotto ticket at all! It had been about running into Amanda in the lobby! I told Amanda this, and she grinned and nodded her head, and we stayed and chatted together for another ten minutes. It was wonderful.

I never did get a Lotto ticket.

On the way home, I took a side road and came upon a field of trumpeter swans flapping and honking and having a jolly good time. When I first got there, there were actually swans on both sides of the road, and – I do not think I’ve ever seen this before – a line of swans waddled across the road in front of me like they were pedestrians in a crosswalk. It was charming. Magic!