Tag Archives: connection

Finding the Magic on a Dark Day

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It was dark and cold and I needed to get out of the house and find some magic.

I drove towards La Conner, took a left, another left, and a right, and ended up at Kohl’s in Burlington. I rarely shop at Kohl’s, but I found myself heading towards their door. I meandered towards the back of the store and looked to the left, and this is where I found magic!

There was a happy little toddler there, busily pushing one of those toy popper mowers and my heart just melted at the sight of him. He was joy personified! I looked around to see who he was with, and found his mom and dad watching him from the aisle. They saw me grinning and laughing, tickled by their little boy, and started laughing with me. After a couple of attempts, I realized the little one’s mom and dad didn’t speak English – I think they were speaking Oaxacan – but we managed to communicate without words, and I was able to let them know I wanted to buy the popper toy for their toddler. They nodded and smiled, and followed me as I went to the cashier to pay for the toy. When I’d bought the popper mower, I brought it back to the little one – who was sitting in the cart now – and thanked him for the pleasure of meeting him today. It – all of it! – was magic!

I wandered around the shopping area for a while then – to See’s for some California brittle – to Petco to watch the fish. And then I drove to Fred’s for some impulse shopping.

I picked up a bag of oranges, a bag of apples, cherry tomatoes, cat food, yogurt, and went to the cashier to pay. She asked me how I was doing and I told her it was cold and dark and I needed to come to Fred’s and buy impulse items. “Like cat food,” I said, “and I don’t even have a cat!” She started laughing with me. I told her nah, I was just joking.

It brings me joy to be with people who know how to laugh with me.

It was still cold and dark outside as I drove home, but now my inside was all warmed up with laughter.

The Way It Should Always Be

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PUPS!!! So many sweet pups on the boardwalk today! They brought me such joy, filled my heart all up with good things. There were two Lilahs; a Motley; Aspen with her human, Ash, ; Gypsy; my old friend, Daisy, with her buddy, Melody; Akira, who danced down the boardwalk; and my old friend, Baker – who came bounding down the boardwalk to greet me.

The bay was beautiful today, too – blue and shiny, with fog on one side, and the Canadian Coastals on the other.

The road above Taylor Dock to Fairhaven was closed because of construction, so I went up one block to by-pass the blocked street and then came down into Fairhaven from above. I felt Cafe Blue calling to me – I haven’t been there for a while and was missing the welcoming vibe. Cafe Blue has always been packed full of people when I’ve been there, so I mentally prepared myself for that. I figured if I couldn’t find a place to sit, I’d just get a coffee to go and take it with me on my walk back to my car.

Cafe Blue WAS packed again today, but, cosmically, as soon as I got done giving my order and started looking for a table, one opened up! It was a table for four and I felt kind of greedy sitting there – so I put myself in the corner of the table, ready to offer the rest of the table to whoever was looking for a place to sit.

My coffee arrived and I settled into the space, closed my eyes for a minute and just let myself absorb the joy around me. When I opened my eyes I saw a couple of young women who looked like they were looking for a place to sit. I offered them the open seats at my table and they sat there until the table next to mine opened up for them. One of the women, Elena, had cool rings on every finger, and I asked her about them. She said the one on her thumb had been made by her grandma, and the other rings were ones she’d mostly found in shops around Bellingham – rings with art and cool quartz and tiger’s eye rocks. I told her I love rocks, too, and reached for my amber necklace to show it off to her – and then I realized I’d forgotten to wear it today. Elena laughed and said that happens to her, too – just when she wants to show off something, she doesn’t have it with her.

I enjoy the feeling of community I always feel in the Cafe Blue – strangers smiling at each other, sharing tables, becoming friends. That’s the way it should always be.

I Smiled the Whole Way Home

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Fred’s was full of Seahawks fever today. They’ve got this big screen tv set up in the middle of the store with a comfy chair in front of it. Highlights from Seahawks games are playing on the screen, and every time I passed the TV, I stopped to watch for a moment – Bobo catching a touchdown pass; Smith-Njigba running the ball in for six points. So fun!

Today there was a man seated in the comfy chair, watching the highlights with a smile on his face. I recognized him as the man who worked in the big bookstore in the Cascade Mall maybe 30 or 35 years ago. We exchanged smiles and greetings and watched the highlights together for a bit.

There were so many sweet toddlers in Fred’s today – and, being the grandmother of a toddler, I find myself wanting to exchange smiles with each and every sweet one of them. Such joy!

I ran into an old teaching colleague, Rob, at Fred’s. I tailgated him with my cart until he finally turned around to see who was behind him, and then his face lit up in recognition. He smiled and asked how I was doing. I said, “You know…” I asked him how he was doing and he said, “Same.” We gave each other a hug and wished each other a good day and exchanged one more smile before we moved on.

There was a young man in the store – early thirties maybe – and we kept passing each other in the produce section. Every time we’d pass each other, we’d smile. And this young man’s smile was so genuine and kind that I got a sudden image of what he would have looked like as a smiling toddler – and that put a grin on my face.

After I was done with my shopping, I went to the in-store Starbucks to get myself something to drink. There were a couple people waiting in line in front of me. I saw that the barista was manning the counter all by herself – busily whipping up coffees for the people who’d already ordered. And I came to a decision. I leaned into the people in front of me – a woman of maybe my age and a younger woman with a young child in her cart – and I said that I wanted to buy their drinks for them – that way the barista would only have to ring up one transaction.

The younger woman, Kelsey, said she’d feel guilty letting me pay, but the woman of about my age, Shelly, knew that I really wanted to do this for them, and convinced Kelsey to agree to my offer. By this time another young woman had gotten behind us, and I said I wanted to take care of her, too. She initially resisted, but eventually gave in and let me buy for her. I told them that I really needed to do this for MYSELF today.

And so when it was our turn, I stepped up and ordered two cake pops (one each for the younger women’s children), an iced caramel macchiato for Kelsey, and a “senior coffee” for Shelly to bring to her husband, and a hot caramel macchiato for myself. Everyone thanked me, and Shelly said she was going to be sure to “pay it forward” later in the day. It’s amazing how much joy I got from connecting with those women.

There were more smiles as I exited Fred’s with my cart and drink – a customer smiled and motioned for me to go ahead of him; a Fred’s employee who was walking out of the store in front of me, turned around and offered a big smile; another employee smiled and wished me a good day. These little exchanges – these little kindness in life are powerful, my friends.

I smiled the whole way home.

I walk with Love along the way,
And O, it is a holy day;
No more I suffer cruel fear,
I feel God’s presence with me here;
The joy that none can take away
Is mine; I walk with Love today.
– Christian Science Hymnal #139

Find It! Celebrate It! Share It!

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My dear Humoristian hooligans –
There is still joy in this world. There is still beauty. There is still love.
Your mission today:
Find it! Celebrate it! Share it!
Karen

I set a mission for my fellow Humoristian hooligans to find joy, beauty, and love today, and then I went in search of these things myself. And I found them!

I roused myself from my comfy chair and went to the courthouse for the noon rally. I got there early and there was only one other person holding down the corner. He told me his name was Christian, this was the first time he’d been to a rally, and he’d walked all the way from the college to be there. He told me he was autistic. I told him I was proud of him for being there.

I’d come all decked out in my Seahawks paraphernalia today. This came in handy. At one point a man, stopped in front of me in his truck, gave my TRUTH JUSTICE KINDNESS sign a thumbs down. I grinned and revealed my Seahawks shirt and yelled, “Seahawks?” to him. He laughed and gave me a thumbs up . As he drove through the intersection we smiled and waved at each other. A man and woman gave me a thumbs up for my sign, and then when I showed them my Seahawks shirt they gave me a DOUBLE thumbs up. A sheriff’s deputy waved to me and gave me a thumbs up as he turned to go to the sheriff’s office.

The support and love the community showed to us today gave me hope for our world.

By the time I left, the corners were packed with people and signs. I told Christian to look at what he’d started. He smiled and said it was great to see so many people there.

On the way home I went though West Mount Vernon and then through Bay View and down the hill into the valley. And this is when I found the murmuration of snow geese. It was inspiring to watch these beautiful birds winging together in perfect harmony.

And now we’re driving home from the Illuminight celebration on the Mount Vernon revetment. The celebration was so fun! I bought an illuminary ball from Travis and Summer, the owners of Tr-Dee Arts; officers, there to keep everyone safe, allowed me to take their picture (I explained I’m a boomer and so it’s going to end up on Facebook, of course – oh, and I’m a Karen, too. They laughed at that.); I met Lyle, who’d made her very own illuminary with a simple paper bag; Tieron let me take a picture of him holding his instrument – he was going to be a part of one of the musical acts tonight; and the La Venture Middle School Marimba Band was fantastic! They played with such irrepressible joy! I had the cosmic good fortune to find myself standing next to Erik, the father of one of the marimba players, and I had tears in my eyes when I told him how much I’d needed that music tonight.

Beauty, joy, love!

You can find my video of today’s snow geese sighting at this Youtube link: https://youtu.be/rHAiIz7S2u8
And another one: https://youtu.be/_MFor8r-2hY

“She’s Chatty!”

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My thanks to employee Robby at Fred Meyer’s who stopped what he was doing to come help me get the item I wanted from the toppiest shelf. Robby was very cool.

I took a moment to tell a father with an unhappy child in his cart what a good job he was doing – I saw his patience and calm as he talked his son through a difficult moment. He grinned and thanked me for noticing.

As I was going through the checkout I chatted and connected with my cashier, Patty, who is a former neighbor of mine. Then I turned to the woman sitting in a wheelchair behind me in line, and said, “Hello!” I think I took her by surprise because she got a big grin on her face before giving me a hello back. The man who was with her – her son maybe? – smiled at me, too. The woman said to Patty (referring to me), “She’s chatty.” And Patty laughed and explained that we used to be old neighbors. “We go waaay back,” I said, laughing.

I got to the door to exit, and there was another woman there, preparing to head out into the parking lot. It was dumping rain out there, and the woman and I looked at the rain and then at each other and started spontaneously laughing. “Hoods up!” I said, bringing my hood over my head. She pointed out that she didn’t have a hood. I gave her a quick nod, like we were comrades going into battle, and wished her good luck. She smiled and returned my good wishes.

I’d Been Waiting for Years to Capture This Moment

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I love Cy of Village Books. She never fails to make me smile. Today she was bopping all over the store – cashiering, manning the information desk, fetching books, giving people (me) the key to the restroom – AND she took the time to spend a few minutes chatting with me about how to prepare the perfect turkey for Thanksgiving (it involves putting an orange inside it). She brings me joy.

Regarding the cormorant photo – I belong to a group called “Crap Bird Photography” – and I’ve been waiting for maybe years to capture this moment. I don’t think any further explanation is necessary. 🙂

I was standing behind a young man at Wood’s who had a cap that said “annoyed” on the back of it and – maybe because I’m a former middle school teacher? – this just totally tickled me. I debated tapping him on the shoulder to find out more about his cap – but… would that be annoying? 😃 Finally, I could not help myself and I tapped. He turned around (he looked very much like my eldest son!) and I told him I liked his hat and asked him about it. He smiled and explained that “annoyed” was a brand name, and then he graciously agreed to let me get a photo.

At the top of the ramp to Taylor Dock I looked over and saw a sweet little family of deer – a doe and two youngsters – grazing just behind the fence. They didn’t seem at all perturbed by my snapping camera, and calmly moved underneath the ramp to munch on the apples under the tree, and get out of the drizzle.

The lights in Fairhaven were beautiful last night – reflected on the wet sidewalks and Village Green.

Today a Rocket Scientist Worked on My Car

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Today a rocket scientist changed out the cabin filter in my car.

I set aside this morning to run errands: oil change, car tab renewal, bank, grocery shopping.

I thought I’d start with the one that most scared me: the oil change. I’m always a little scared I’m going to drive my car into the pit.

I got to Valvoline pretty early, and was the second car in line. While I was waiting to face my terror and drive over the pit, Ashlee came back to check my tire pressure, and to see if my lights were working. (All good!) I saw she had a *Star Trek* belt and asked her if she was a Star Trek fan – she said what she really enjoyed was *The Big Bang Theory* – and her favorite character on there was a Trekkie. I loved that Ashlee was a Big Bang fan – anyone who enjoyed that show is okay by me. 🙂

A fearless young man directed me over the pit. I thanked him for bringing me in safely and he said, “You’re welcome” – like he understood that this was serious business for me.

Everything was looking good – battery, brake fluid, and etc. Then the young woman who was ringing me up asked me how my air conditioner was working, and wondered if I might want the cabin filter changed. I had never, in the decade I’ve owned this car, had the cabin filter in it changed. It seemed like a good idea to take care of that.

She asked me if she could come around and get into the passenger side of the car, and I nodded. She opened the passenger door, and then pulled down my glove compartment box and it was like opening a secret door! There was a whole ‘nother world hidden back there!

At this point she went to get Zach, the manager. Zach is like a comic book Super Hero. I long ago discovered his brilliance when he helped me reset my old Ford Fiesta standard transmission maintenance light. The fact that he could even drive a standard transmission was cool – but knowing how to turn off that maintenance light – knowing the just right order to push which pedal and how long to hold it – that was epic.

Zach pulled out the glove compartment box completely, and then removed a panel below it, and, as he was doing this, he was pointing things out to me and explaining what he was doing, and I actually understood what he was saying! I asked him if he’d ever thought of being a teacher – he’d make a good one – and he told me he had considered that – and he knew there would be parts of teaching he’d like – but he could also see himself losing his patience sometimes, and he thought that probably wouldn’t be a good thing.

Zach was working in a very small space in my car – contorted between the passenger seat and the shield under the glove box. When I expressed sympathy to him, he told me he’d worked in smaller spaces, and this is when I learned he’d been a designer for a race car team when he was a student at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. (!)

A rocket scientist was working on my car.

For personal reasons, he’d dropped out before he’d completed his degree, but he told me that he was currently enrolled in an online program through Embry-Riddle – the old credits on his transcripts had transferred into the online program – and he was working on finishing up his degree with hopes of getting into a career in aeronautical engineering.

It took Zach probably 20 minutes to get that cabin filter replaced – he’s one of the few people in the Valvoline chain trained and trusted to do this procedure, and I felt really lucky that he was there today. I had such fun chatting with Zach for those twenty minutes. I learned that he’d grown up in a town in Oregon, where his parents had both been pediatricians, and that he loved his mom and dad, but liked the freedom of living up here and being able to create his own life with his wife (whom he’d met at Embry-Riddle and is herself employed as an aeronautical engineer).

Every now and then, while Zach was working on my car, his younger Valvoline teammates would come back and check with him to make sure they were doing things right. I loved the rapport I saw between Zach and the younger technicians. I could see respect and appreciation there. I could see Zach teaching.

After he was all done, I asked him if I could give him a hug – I told him it felt like he was one of my kids. He grinned and we exchanged a hug, and I drove away smiling.

Yup. Today a rocket scientist worked on my little car. How cool is that?!

A New Magazine That Brings Us Renewal

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Excerpt from “Connecting 101: Karen Molenaar Terrell’s Lab Class on Love” from the newest edition of Renewal, published and edited by Constance Mears:
“This consciousness of cosmic connection goes beyond basic friendliness. For Karen, it’s informed by her beliefs as a Christian Scientist.”

Every month my friend, Constance, brings us inspiration, beauty and wisdom in her online magazine, “Renewal.” She brings us magic.

This month “Renewal” prepares us for Thanksgiving – for sitting down around the table with family and friends and celebrating (or rebuilding) our connections with one another.

Author Shannon Willis speaks of the importance of putting down our devices and sharing our stories with each other.

Connie talks about the tradition of gratitude, and the healing that comes from building a shrine to what’s important to us.

And look! There’s me! 😃 Connie interviewed me to get my thoughts on connection.

You can read the magazine by clicking this link and then either downloading the magazine (this issue has happy ducks on the cover) or tapping on the little “full screen” box under the cover, and clicking the arrow to turn the page. (This works best on a full-sized computer.): https://www.constancemears.com/renewal/

My NEXUS Interview and Other Fun Stuff in the Border Town

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I had an appointment at the Blaine Trusted Traveler Enrollment Center this morning, to interview for my NEXUS pass. I’ve known about this appointment for four months, and for four months I’ve stressed about it. Would I remember to bring all the right papers with me? When I was filling out the application, I’d accidentally answered the question about countries I’ve been to in the last five years by clicking on the “Austria” bubble instead of the “Australia” one – would that get me in trouble? Would there be anyone to laugh with me at the office – or would it be a very serious and solemn place?

I’d asked Scott to come with me – I told him I’d buy him breakfast afterwards. I really didn’t want to go there alone.

As soon as we stepped through the door into the office, I was greeted by a friendly man behind the counter named James. I told him I’d gotten there early, and he smiled and said he’d go ahead and take my birth certificate and passport and see if he could get me in sooner than scheduled.

Scott and I took a seat in the waiting area. There was a big-screen tv showing children’s cartoons set up to one side, and that made me smile. How thoughtful!

Soon I was called to be interviewed by an American agent who, I learned, was originally from Puerto Rico. She did a great job talking me through the interview and I told her that she would make a good teacher. She told me she actually had been a teacher in a previous career. I told her about answering the question with “Austria” instead of “Australia” – and told her I’d been a social studies teacher, and I was embarrassed that I’d clicked the wrong country. She smiled and said not to worry, she wouldn’t tell anyone – and she changed the answer for me in her computer.

I took two or three steps to the right, to talk to the Canadian agent now. He was smiling, and told me he’d been terrible at social studies. I told him that later in my career I’d had the opportunity to teach every subject – including trigonometry and geometry. He laughed and said that, because he was Asian, people often assumed he should be good at math – but he’d been terrible at math until he’d gotten the right math teacher in high school, and then math had become his favorite subject. I agreed with him that the right teacher can make all the difference.

And then – just like that – I was done!

It was time to take Scott to breakfast now, and I had in mind a little bakery in Blaine I’d visited last spring. Scott drove us into Blaine, and I pointed past the construction going on there, and told him the place I was thinking of was on the other side of that. So he parked the car, and we walked around the construction fences, past the vape shop, and into the L&L Bakery.

I love that place! There were four or five other pairs of friends there, chatting and drinking coffee at small tables; the walls are covered in colorful art; and the display case at the counter is filled with pastries and cookies, and quiches. It’s one of those places that just wraps you up in a welcoming hug when you walk in.

Lili, the owner, and Megan, were cheery and fun, and let me snap their picture behind the counter. Scott and I ate our quiches (jalapeno for him; vegetarian for me) and drank our coffees and chatted with Lili about the restaurant business, and the value of the community meeting place she and her mom (the other owner) are providing for Blaine.

After we left the bakery, Scott and I wandered through town, soaking up the Blaine vibes. There are Christmas decorations up in parts of the town; and cool murals on the walls; several “parklets” scattered along the main road; and a wide range of restaurants – Hawaiian, Mexican, Thai, a steakhouse, and a couple diners. It’s a really cool little town.

So this day that I’ve been anticipating for four months – this day that I was so stressed about – ended up bringing Scott and I new friends and good food, and a nice walk through autumn leaves.

Trust, Karen. Kindness is everywhere.

Heaven Everywhere

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I admit I was nervous about traveling to LAX this week. I was flying with Alaska Airlines, and they’d had a spot of trouble last week. Also I was concerned there might be a dearth of air traffic controllers – seeing as how these heroic folks haven’t been paid for the last week I wouldn’t have blamed any of them for leaving to find work that would provide them with income. So it was with some trepidation – and a lot of prayer – that I I started my journey to Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.

There had been moments before my trip when I’d had this sense of certainty that Love was with me, preparing my way for me, leading me. I was motivated by Love to travel to California to see my son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby, and I knew this was a right desire, and could only lead to Good. At those moments, I determined that my mission was to shine love on everyone I encountered on my trip. But, every now and then, a news headline would hit my newsfeed that had me doubting again. There was a battle going on in my thoughts between fear and happy anticipation to see my loved ones again.

My husband drove me the hour and a half to Sea-Tac (bless him!) and dropped me off at the departures door. Now it was just me and Love. It took practically no time to find the security line – and I was, like, the second person in line! I got through the whole security line in probably three minutes!

Once I was on the other side, I went in search of a restroom. There was a flight attendant in the restroom, standing by the sinks, cleaning out her bag – apparently she’d spilled something in it. I asked her if she was going to LAX, and she said she was – I told her we were going to be on the same plane then. Her job, I said, was one of the hardest jobs in the world – flight attendants have to serve and take care of everyone else first, but they’re dealing with the same difficulties as everyone else on the flight. She smiled and nodded and said that yup, we’re all in the same boat together. I asked her if she’d had any problems last week while Alaska Airlines’ technology wasn’t working, and she said she and her crew had been grounded 12 hours someplace. Yikes! But here she was – ready to get on another plane and serve her passengers. Another hero. She indicated – pointing to her bag – she was feeling a little frazzled at the moment, but I told her (and this was true) she totally looked put together, and I felt reassured knowing she was going to be on the plane with me.

An hour later, when I boarded my flight, I saw Sheryl there, greeting people at the door, smiling. I said, “We made it!” and she started laughing.

The flight to Los Angeles was incredibly quick and smooth – I think we landed early. And when I got there, my beautiful daughter-in-law and precious granddaughter were there to pick me up. My daughter-in-law set my little granddaughter down about ten yards away from me and let her race to me, a big grin on her face. I scooped her up and held her close and felt myself in heaven.

I was only in LA for three days – but it was chock full of joy and hope and good people. It was chock full of love. And it was so good to be with my son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby again.

We went to the neighborhood playground and I climbed the equipment with my grandbaby and enjoyed watching her work her way around the big toys; We stopped at Shawn’s Pumpkin Patch https://shawnspumpkinpatch.com/ , where we met Whitney and Dennis, and I had fun volunteering to take family photos for the other tourists; We strolled down the Santa Monica Pier, and stepped into the photo booth for some pics; We went to the Cafe Gratitude for dinner and met sweet Kiara pup standing in line with her human there; The next day we went to the The Butcher’s Daughter for lunch – that day I was proudly wearing my Mariners shirt and I asked one of the servers if he was a Dodger’s fan – he said no, but I found out he was a Yankees fan, and I had fun talking baseball with him for a quick minute; I bought fresh-squeezed lemonades from Mike at Hot Dog on a Stick in Santa Monica – and I really wanted to give Mike a tip for his genuine kindness to me, but he wouldn’t take one – he graciously allowed me to snap his photo, though, and laughed when I introduced myself as a Boomer named Karen – passing my Karen test; Then my daughter-in-law, grandbaby, and I sat and listened to Ian Bradley and his drummer make music next to the Hot Dog on a Stick restaurant while we sipped our lemonades. I dropped a donation in their box and got thanked and twirled for my humble gift.

The morning of my last day there, my daughter-in-law brought me to a music-in-the-park event for toddlers hosted by the musician, Ryoji. And oh! Once again, I felt I was in heaven. The music, the youngsters, the parents and grandparents and nannies – of every color, race, and ethnicty – enjoying music and dancing together and showing love to one another – isn’t this heaven?!

In the afternoon my son drove me to LAX for my trip back to Sea-Tac. We gave each other big hugs goodbye, reminded each other we’d see each other again soon at Christmas, and I headed for the security line.

I got in line behind a woman who just radiated good will and kindness. I told her I’m always a little nervous about going through security – afraid I’ve accidentally committed some security transgression (this time I accidentally wore my cellphone into the full body scan, but – thank goodness! – the TSA official clocked the cellphone before he scanned me – he said cellphones are 99% of the reason the scanner alarms go off – yikes!). My new friend, Alia, laughed and yawned and said she was too tired to be nervous about that today. We got to talking then, and learned we were both on the same flight to Seattle! How cosmic! I followed Alia through the security line and then we both went separate directions in search of food. But we met up again in the waiting area before we boarded the plane, and got to talking about our families, the goodness of people, and kindness. Heaven again!

I met so many wonderful new friends on my trip! And every place I went I found heaven.