Tag Archives: connections

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.

So Many Gifts Today!

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So many gifts today!

I drove into Mount Vernon to take the steps I needed to take to donate my Cosmic Connections book to the library there. I was greeted at the counter by the ever-kind and ever-welcoming CJ, librarian extraordinaire. CJ asked me if the application explains that once a book is donated, whether they decide to put it on their shelves or not, they won’t be giving it back to me. I told him that the application mentions that, and that I’m fine with whatever they want to do with my book – I just hope it will bring some joy to whoever ends up with it. We chatted then about what my book is about. I told CJ that Cosmic Connections chronicles the experiences I have meeting cool people and sharing the joy of these connections. I told him a lot of the stories take place in Mount Vernon, and that HE would probably be in my next book, and he started cracking up.

I love people who know how to laugh with me.

After I’d dropped off my book, I walked along the River Walk down to Lions Park, taking photos of the bloated Skagit River as I went. I watched a pair of birds cruising down the river on a log, like it was there own personal yacht. That brought me a grin.

Then I walked down to the Skagit Valley Food Co-Op to get myself a mocha. There was such joy there today. Keely was behind the counter. Her hair brought me joy and I asked if I could take her photo. She grinned and gave me permission.

A young woman named Vanessa was greeted by an old friend she hadn’t seen in a while, and their happiness and excitement at seeing each other again brought me more joy. Before Vanessa left the store, I asked her if I could get her picture – explained she’d brought me joy today. She laughed and graciously agreed to a photo – you feel the irresistible joy from her, too, right?

When I stopped off at the post office, I saw a little frog hopping around in the parking lot. “What are you doing here, buddy?” I asked him. The parking lot did not seem like a good place for him. So I scooped him up and walked him down to a bank next to the slough. He hopped out of my hands and then looked up at me. I’m pretty sure he was smiling. Live long and prosper, my little friend!

And if all that magic wasn’t enough, later, when I went to the bank, I couldn’t help but notice the cool red shoes of the woman in front of me in line. I told her they reminded me of my childhood, and she laughed and nodded. We talked then about playing outside all day when we were youngsters – tag and kick-the-can. Her shoes brought back a lot of happy memories for me.

These Links to Other People, Places, and Adventures

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Scott and I gathered with family in Olympia on Saturday. After lunch we headed down to Capitol Lake for a walk around the loop. The reflections were amazing down there, and we met some way cool dogs and humans, too!

(I didn’t bring my big camera with me, so these were all taken with my cellphone and don’t have as much “pixel-power” as my Nikon might have given me.)

Little Boogey pup came by with his humans, and allowed me to give him a scratch behind the ears; we passed Joey the Corgi going the opposite direction – look at his sweet face! – how could I not take a picture? 🙂

We paused along the trail to look out across the lake towards downtown, and this is when I saw a man looking down into a marshy area of cattails and fallen logs. He looked to me to be grieving, and my heart reached out to him.

I saw a kind of stark beauty in the logs and cattails. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I asked the man. He nodded his head and agreed it was.

Then he pointed to the mud and cattails and said, “I saw the largest boreal toad I’ve ever seen down there.” He said the toad had been about eight inches long! He’d never seen anything like it.

I learned he’d seen the toad three years ago and hadn’t seen it since. He said non-indigeneous bullfrogs had come into the lake, and efforts had been made to get rid of them. Jim thought the toads might have died then, too.

I confessed to him, then, that when I’d seen him looking into the cattails it looked to me like he’d been in mourning. I understood now. He nodded his head.

Scott joined us then, and we all introduced ourselves – Karen, Scott, and Jim Livingstone. We learned Jim was related to the Scottish explorer and abolitionist, David Livingstone. We learned, too, that Jim had served as a volunteer for the late great Olympia activist, Margaret McKenny, who had advocated for preserving open spaces in Olympia and who had founded the Olympia Audubon Society.

I was beginning to understand why Jim knew so much about the environment of Olympia.

I told him my dad had worked for a time for the State as a geologist-hydrologist. Dad, I said, had been an outdoorsman – he’d guided me to the summits of Rainier, Baker, Adams, and Hood when I was younger – and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d known Margaret McKenney. I’d been born in the hospital up on the hill, I said, pointing to where the old Saint Peters Hospital had been on the west side of Bud Inlet. I’d spent the early part of my childhood in Olympia, I told him. We learned Jim had been born the same year as Scott, and had lived in Olympia most of his life.

When I asked Jim if I could take his photo and write a little about him, he agreed to this. I showed him my Facebook wall – where he might find his photo when I posted it. He saw my name and said, “Dee Molenaar.” Yup. He recognized my maiden name and knew, without asking, who my father had been. He said he’d climbed Mount Saint Helens with Dad. How cool is that?!

I love these connections Dad left me – these links to other people and places and adventures. What a gift!

Autumn Magic in Bellingham

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Magic!

I needed to get out and go for a walk in the sunshine, but I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go – Mount Baker? Squalicum Pier maybe? Deception Pass? I started driving, curious where I’d end up, and found myself at Lake Padden. And oh! There was major magic there today!

The mist was moving over the autumn reflections on the lake (I’ll post more pics and video in another post), and the paths were filled with a golden glow from the sunlight filtering through the leaves. There was a man and his pup – Shawn and Remington – down near the shore – and I could tell they were as caught up in the magic as me.

Shawn was wearing a hat that said “Ketchikan” on it, and we got to talking about what a great little town Ketchikan is – Shawn had lived most of his life there and I’d traveled through Ketchikan once on an Alaskan adventure. Then Shawn bent down near the shore and showed me how he took cool pictures with his cellphone by letting it rest vertically right on the edge of the water (he showed me some of the photos he’d taken this way and they were FANTASTIC!). I wanted to know more about Remington, and Shawn told me that Remington had been rescued after being abandoned in the woods with other dogs from a puppy mill.

As Shawn was leaving to continue on his walk with Remington , he turned back to me to point out a deer that was headed down the trail. Magic!

After taking some more pictures of the mist on the lake, I headed for the dock – I figured there’d be some great reflections there. And this is when I met Salem, and her human, Josh. Salem let me scratch her behind the ears, and Josh and I got to talking. I learned Josh had moved from Seattle to Bozeman, and had only recently returned from Montana. I asked him if he missed the wide, open spaces of Montana, and he admitted he did. He talked about how he’d been astonished by the starry skies when he’d first moved to Bozeman from Seattle. And then we got to talking about the mountains and skiing and snow-boarding and (ahem) I might have mentioned my dad is in Wikipedia for mountain climbing. 🙂

I continued on my walk around Padden, passing under golden arches (not the MacDonald’s kind), and swishing through autumn leaves. When I got to the part of the park where the geese hang out, I sat at a picnic bench to watch them. And this is when I saw the magnificent Wilbur! “That dog is magnificent!” I told Wilbur’s human, and he smiled and brought Wilbur to me so we could get acquainted. Wilbur let me pet him – his fur was so soft! Wilbur, his human told me, is an Irish Doodle – part Irish Setter and part standard poodle – and he’s huge! Wilbur’s human introduced himself as Ryan and I introduced myself as “Karen, of course” – Ryan passed the Karen Test by laughing – and we shook hands to make our introduction official. (We went all-out with the handshake and did the handshake, thumbs over, fist bump, and “poof” – because, as everybody who’s anybody knows, that is the best way to shake hands.)

I really needed to be at Lake Padden today – I needed to meet the pups and people, and see the mist moving over the water. I needed the magic of kind people and autumn.

Bountiful Blessings: I Asked Love to Show Me She Existed Today

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Ask, and ye shall receive. BIG time!

I asked Love to show me She existed today – after reading the stories coming through my feed this morning, I was in sorry need of reassurance. And Love said “Okay,” and then dumped such a deluge of blessings upon me – one after an incredible ‘nother – that I’m sitting here, still trying to process all the magic She poured over me today. I think Love has a sense of humor.

When I left the house, I was feeling sort of closed-up and tentative about the world. Cautious. I thought I would just walk and observe and keep myself to myself today. But, of course that didn’t happen.

Because. Connections. A Seahawks shirt. A WSU cap. Animal-lovers. A mountaineering father. I have found I don’t need to dig too deep to find a connection with pretty much every person I meet.

The first thing that happened was I saw my old friend, Baker pup, wagging his way down the boardwalk, greeting every human who came his way. So, of course I had to stop to talk to Baker’s human and thank him for bringing Baker to the boardwalk for all of us. Not long after I gave Baker a scratch behind the ears, I came upon another one of my favorite pups, Ari. Ari’s human let me give Ari a treat so that I could become his “hero forever.” And, if I’d just met Baker and Ari, that would have been enough. But no, Love wasn’t done with me, yet.

Just before I got to the coffee shop in Boulevard Park, I saw a little pup stylin’ a purple mohawk, and I was instantly charmed. Her human, Wendy, told me that she dyes Lucy’s hair herself – using masking tape to keep the dye inside a little rectangle on top of Lucy’s head. She said Lucy loves to go shopping with her at thrift stores, and enjoys her spa days when Wendy dyes her hair and gives her doggy massages. The idea of a spa day for Lucy totally tickled me. Wendy graciously agreed to let me take little Lucy’s picture.

I walked into the Wood’s in Boulevard Park to get myself a mocha. The barista fed me my line: “And what’s a good name for that drink?”

To which I answered my usual, “Well, I’m not sure it’s a good name, but my name is ‘Karen.'”

To which he answered, “I love that name! My mom is named Karen!”

To which, I gave him the highest tip.

As I stood off to the side, waiting for my drink, I saw a young man wearing a WSU cap. “Go Cougs!” I said, and he started grinning. I told him the year I’d graduated from WSU – long, long ago – and learned he’d just graduated in June. I learned that his friend also graduated from WSU, and is going to Tennessee soon, to get her law degree. My new friends introduced themselves as Emma and Austin, and cheerfully agreed to let me snap their photo.

I finished my mocha outside at a picnic table, people-watching and listening to the breeze gently rustle the autumn leaves above me. I felt such peace there.

A couple of women passed by, and one of them stopped and started frantically patting down her pockets. Uh oh. “Did you lose something?” I asked, concerned for her. She smiled and said she thought she’d lost her phone, but she found it. Whew!

When I felt it was time, I moved on down the boardwalk. I’d just gotten to the end of the first boardwalk section, when I saw a little group of people pointing and looking into one of the pine trees there. I was curious, and asked them what they saw. They told me there was an animal in a nest in the branches, and they helped me find it. I tried to get a picture, but the nest was hidden in the shadows of the tree, and it was hard to get a clear shot. For a while we stood together, speculating about what kind of an animal this was – we knew it wasn’t a squirrel because it didn’t have a squirrel tail, but see? There’s its ears and “I think it’s looking at us.” Someone thought it might be a mouse. I suggested it might be a completely new kind of creature – half-bird and half-mammal. And my new friends played along with me.

I loved these people. I asked them if they were from Bellingham, and learned they were visiting from Florida. I welcomed them to my part of the world and thanked them for sharing their discovery with me. And, of course, I asked if I could take their picture. I told them I was collecting magic today, and they were a part of that. So we all introduced ourselves, and I learned my new friends were Lin, Portia, and David.

After Lin, Portia, and David continued on their journey, I stayed a little longer to see if I could get a better view of the creature in the tree. And when Caden and Kylie passed by, I could tell they were people who would enjoy seeing the nest, too. So now *I* got to share the nest-magic with more cool new friends!

Little Fig pup appeared on the path as I was heading for the second section of the boardwalk. She just radiated friendly puppyness and it was impossible to NOT take her photo.

When I got to the ramp above Taylor Dock I found the women who’d passed me while I sat at the picnic bench in Boulevard Park – when I’d thought one of them had lost something. They recognized me and asked me if I’d take their photo for them. I did that for them, and then they posed for me so I could take their photo for myself. Rose and Claire were very fun. I learned that they were visiting Bellingham from Alberta, and I thanked them for coming down from Canada to see us.

But wait! There’s more!

When I got up to Fairhaven, I texted my husband to let him know I was bringing home dinner, and stopped at OVN to order a pizza for us. While I waited outside for my pizza, I noticed a dog at the next table was sticking her snout in between her humans, looking for attention, and I started grinning. More pup magic! I told the family around the table that I was loving their dog, and they started laughing. They said Kodak ignores them when they want to give her attention, but then inserts herself between them when SHE wants attention. “Like a cat,” I said, nodding, and they laughed and agreed.

I came over to their table to get a picture of Kodak, and to give her a pet on the head. Kodak’s family introduced themselves to me then. Cindy was the matriarch, and her children Zoe and Jordan were with her, and their friends, Vaughn, and Lani. I learned, then, that Kodak’s family was up in Bellingham because Zoe was attending WWU this year to study anthropology. And all this got us to talking about state universities. I told them one of my sons had attended WWU, the other one had attended WSU, I had attended WSU, and my father had attended UW. I said my dad and I had enjoyed the Apple Cups together – but, of course, that’s all different now from when he was alive. Cindy said her dad had gone to UW, too, and maybe her dad and mine had known each other! And then one thing led to another – we started talking about our dads – and we discovered they’d both been renowned mountaineers and almost surely had known each other!!! Her father, Jack Kendrick, had been one of Fred Beckey’s climbing partners and had climbed with the Whittaker twins. I told Cindy my pop had climbed Mount Kennedy with the Whittakers, and was probably best known for his participation in the 1953 K2 Expedition.

It was so fun talking to Cindy and hearing again the names of people from Dad’s circle of friends! (Here’s more about Jack Kendrick: https://www.mountaineers.org/…/in-memory-of-jack-kendrick ) (And here’s more about Pop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee_Molenaar )

Connections! I love these connections we all have with one another.

But wait! There’s more!

My pizza had been brought out by this time and it was time to go. So I bid my new friends goodbye, grabbed my pizza, and headed up to my car. When I got to the statue of J.J. Harris sitting on the bench at the corner of 11th and Harris, I saw a man in a Seahawks sweatshirt who looked like he might be wanting to sit next to Mr. Harris on the bench. I said, “Go Seahawks!” and asked him if he was thinking of sitting on the bench. He started laughing and said he hadn’t been thinking of that, but he would do that for me if I needed someone in a photo. So he sat on the bench for me. I took a photo of him with his cell and then took a picture of him with mine. I learned that Parry was visiting Bellingham from BC, and I told him I was so happy to see Canadians visiting us.

Parry reassured me that we’re “all one” – and it felt like Love Herself speaking to me.

I Felt Myself Slipping Into the Abyss and Went in Search of Magic

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My newsfeed was full of dark and scary things when I turned on my cellphone this morning and I felt myself slipping into the abyss. I knew I needed to get myself up to Bellingham for a therapy session with sunshine and fresh air and smiling people and pups.

As I was walking down the boardwalk towards Boulevard Park, a man on a bicycle approached from the opposite direction. As he went passed he smiled and pointed back the direction he’d come. “Two eagles in the second tree!” he said.

I knew exactly the tree he was talking about and thought maybe if I climbed up to the top of the knoll I’d be closer to the eagles. But when I got up there, I realized the eagles were on the other side of the tree, and I’d actually have a better view of them from down below.

When I got back down on the trail I could see the pair of eagles right above me. I pointed them out to a young woman named Lisa who stopped to enjoy them with me for a bit. Then three women – maybe of three different generations? – stopped to watch the eagles with me. I told them that I’d often seen one eagle up there, but I hadn’t seen two in the tree before. The younger woman said something to the other women and I recognized the Spanish word for “two” – “dos.” I nodded and smiled, “Yes! Dos!” And they all grinned with me. I thanked them for sharing that moment with me. They nodded and smiled. New friends!

When I got down to Boulevard Park, I went into the coffee shop to get an iced coffee. A woman in a pretty dress walked into the coffee shop. Her dress was cheery and colorful and it made me smile. I told the woman I loved what she was wearing and she smiled and thanked me. Then I took my iced coffee out to a picnic table to watch passersby and the boats on the bay.

Pretty soon a fluffy puppy walked by with his humans – a father and a young son. I asked Mario if I could meet his puppy and take a picture and he smiled and said sure. Little Yoshi is a Burmese Mountain dog, and he’s going to get much bigger before he’s done growing. He’s wonderfully photogenic – seemed to know exactly how to pose for me – and Mario told me that Yoshi has his own instagram account with thousands of followers. I am not surprised by this.

A woman stopped at my picnic table with her friend to ask me if I was Karen from Facebook. And this is how I came to at last meet my Facebook friend LaVonne in the person. LaVonne and I travel in a lot of the same FB circles – birding groups and The Seeing Bellingham group. It was very cool that she recognized me. LaVonne and her friend, Gina, sat and chatted with me for a while about birds and sign language (Gina is an expert in this) and the beauty of the day and Gina’s amazing purple hair.

From the picnic table, I could see the pair of eagles still sitting in their tree. It occurred to me that if I went back to my car by way of the road to Boulevard Park, I might actually get a great view of the eagles. So that’s what I did. By using the road, I was able to get pretty close to the raptors. It was cool.

Just as I was getting back to my car, I saw the woman in the pretty dress again – this time with her husband and a pup. I learned her name is Stephanie, and her husband’s name is Nick, and I learned their pup is named Zena. They all (including the pup) graciously agreed to pose for me.

This morning I went in search of magic – and I found it!

I Came Back Restored

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My trip to visit my son, his wife, and my granddaughter only lasted three days, but I was living in a whole ‘nother world inside of those three days. I came back restored.

Because I wanted to travel light and didn’t want to have to worry about carry-on baggage or trying to get all my electronics out of my backpack when I went through security, I didn’t bring my laptop or ebook. I didn’t listen to news, didn’t watch television, and, other than posting some quick pics from my cellphone, I pretty much stayed off of social media.

It was AWESOME!

The son and his family live in Venice, California, and we took long walks together over the canals and down to the beach, past vibrant murals and artsy boutiques. My granddaughter, little Linh, pointed out a white egret stepping along the edge of the canal and we enjoyed watching him as he foraged for lunch. And then Rigby the pup came up to us with a big smile and a wagging tail for a pet on the head.

We walked to the Erewhon Market and were greeted with a friendly smile at the door by Russ, who told me that the market has a lot of people named Russ there. “It’s like a Russ magnet,” I said. And he laughed and agreed.

On my last morning in Venice, Christina and Linh brought me with them to the Linnie Canal Park for a music program for toddlers. The four young women who led the program sang with the children, brought out instruments for them to play, and led them in fun dances. Music and dance and toddlers laughing together! That, my friends, is healing.

My son drove me to the airport, parked, and walked me in. I saw a couple of security guards standing at the bottom of an escalator and asked them where I needed to go. They smiled at me, and one of them asked me if I had any baggage to check (nope!) and asked to see my boarding pass on my phone. Then he told me I could just go right up the escalator, turn right, and get in the general security check line. I told him I knew there’d be people to help me at the airport, and thanked him. I asked him his name and he said “Alex” and then he asked me my name and I said, “Karen, of course.” He started laughing, and wished me a good flight.

My son and I hugged good bye at the bottom of the escalator and I made my way to the security line. I watched to see what the people ahead of me were doing as they got to the security conveyer belt. I took two bins and, trying to look like a I fly on planes every week, sorted my backpack and purse and jacket in the bins. I turned to the man behind me and asked, “Do I look like I know what I’m doing?” and he grinned and said I did. “I’m just copying all the people in front of me,” I confessed, and he laughed and said that’s what we ALL were doing.

When I got up to the security lady – a woman of about my age who’d been using a curt voice with the people in front of me – I pointed to my bins and asked her, “How’d I do?” She put her curt voice aside and smiled and told me it looked like I’d done a good job.

I was feeling hungry and went in search of food. I stopped at the Wahoo’s to order a quesadilla. The woman in front of me in line must have thought she was taking longer than she should because she turned around and apologized. Including the cashier, I said, “No! You’re both doing a great job!” And they smiled at me.

I ordered my quesadilla and waited near the pick-up counter. The cashier called out the number of the woman who’d been ahead of me, but I could tell she hadn’t heard it, so I yelled, “Forty-seven!” – which she heard. The cashier thanked me for yelling out her number, and I grinned and told him I was using my teacher voice.

When I boarded the plane I found there was an empty seat between my window seat and the man sitting in the aisle seat. I asked him, hopefully, if the middle seat had been empty when he’d reserved his seat, and he made a sad face and said no. “Dang,” I said, “Well, maybe it will end up being someone really lovely.”

Our seat partner soon joined us, and we all settled in for our flight. As our plane rolled down the runway, I could see a beautiful sunset blossoming on the horizon. I tried to take a picture, but then our plane turned and… I looked at the young man sitting in the middle seat and said, “The sunset’s amazing, but…”

He smiled in understanding, and finished my sentence for me, “It’s on the wrong side of the plane.”

Soon Eelco and I had introduced ourselves to each other and were in conversation. I learned he’s Dutch – so I, of course, told him my dad’s family had come from de Nederlands, and told him my maiden name was “Molenaar” – which he recognized as totally Dutch. We talked about skiing – he was going to visit a Dutch cousin in Montana to go skiing – and I told him my dad had been, among other things, a ski instructor. Then we talked about traveling – because if you’re a Dutch downhill skier you’re going to need to leave your country to do that. And we talked about languages, jobs, education, family (ahem, I might have mentioned Dad is in Wikipedia for mountaineering), traveling, adventures. I learned he was the same age as my son and we talked about how different the world was when I was born compared to when he and my son were born.

I dozed off for a bit then, and woke to find we were close to landing.

This is when the man on the other side of Eelco told him that I’d been hoping the middle seat would be open. “But,” I added, “I did say that maybe we’d get a lovely person in the middle.” And Brett, the man in the aisle seat, nodded in agreement that I had indeed said that. Now Eelco and Brett got in conversation and learned that they’d both been vendors at the Natural Products Expo West this week! Brett had been there to vend the cardboard containers his company sells; and Eelco had been there to show the glass containers his company sells. They might have even passed each other while they were there!

It is a small world, my friends.

My husband had parked the car and was waiting for me in the baggage claim area. It was so good to see him again! I had all kinds of stories I wanted to share with him about our grandbaby’s hugs, and the people I met on my trip, and the things I saw.

We live in a beautiful world full of new friends just waiting to be met, of laughing toddlers, and people who want to help us on our journeys.

I’m going to hang on to that as I move into the future.

Cosmic Community: Celebrating Kindness

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I have a new book “out there.” It’s the third book in the Cosmic Celebrations series – Cosmic Community: Celebrating Kindness.

I apologize that it’s only available on Amazon right now (and please do not order it on February 28th).

Here’s the opening to Cosmic Community:

December 6, 2023

This morning I felt impelled to get out of the house and go for a drive. I ended up at the mall in Bellingham with the vague idea that I might go Christmas shopping.

As I headed into Macy’s a young woman approached me – she looked scared. She said her baby was locked in the car with her keys and she asked me if I could let security know. I went into Macy’s and let the customer service people know the situation.

They needed to know the model of the car and where it was parked, so I went back out and asked the young mother if I could watch her car and baby while she went inside to talk to the customer service people. She thanked me and I took up my post by her car.

When I looked in the window I saw her baby was crying – so I said, “Hi Sweetie! I’m right here with you!” and she started giggling then and smiling at me. There was a little toy suction cupped to the window and the baby reached up and started playing with the toy – like she was playing with me – and we spent the next minute or so laughing at her toy together.

The baby’s mom came out then, and pretty soon folks in uniforms joined her at her car to help her.

And the thought occurred to me that maybe that was the whole reason I’d felt like I’d needed to drive and ended up at the mall – I hardly ever go there, and it was weird for me to decide to go there today.

I bought a red vest and a new pair of jeans and then started my drive home.

And the clouds and the rain and the gray evening light enveloped me in a peaceful bubble. I’d put in a CD of hymns sung by a pair of young brothers with a youthful energy, and as I listened to the hymns I thought of my mom and remembered all the times she’d sung those hymns to me. I could feel her love with me.

As I drove through the Chuckanut Hills, I thought of the hikes I’d taken with Dad and felt his love, too. And then I remembered driving this same route when I was bringing the sons home from swimming lessons when they were preschoolers, and I could almost hear them laughing with each other in the back seat. It seemed a lifetime ago, and just like yesterday.

The young men on the CD sang, “He leadeth me, O blessed thought! O words with heav’nly comfort fraught…” (words by Joseph H. Gilmore). And suddenly I felt myself connected to all the other people in the cars moving with me on I-5. And for a moment our kinship with each other was so clear to me. I felt us all moving together in a cosmic murmuration. Normally I try to exit onto the backroads, but I found myself passing the exit I might normally have taken and I realized I WANTED to be with the other folks on I-5.

My drive home was other-worldly and beautiful.

New Book: Cosmic Kinship

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I have a new book on the market. It’s the second book in my Cosmic Celebrations series and I had such fun putting this one together – so many good memories of meeting new friends and reconnecting with old friends. Cosmic Kinship: Celebrating Community can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and most bookstores. If you click on the “Look Inside” link or “Read sample” on this link, you can read a free sample.

A Long Chain of Smiles

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Quick story:

So I’m at the supermarket yesterday. I park off to the side where it’s not as crowded. As I get out of the car, I notice an older gentleman wheeling a little shopping cart back to the shopping cart area and I tell him I’ll take it from him. He smiles and says when he arrived to go shopping, HE got the cart from another guy who’d been wheeling it to the shopping cart area. He said, “I told him that he’d already warmed it up for me.” We laugh at that and I take the cart in and do my shopping. When I’m done shopping I bring the cart to my car and unload my groceries. Then I start to take the cart back to the cart area when another older gentleman stops me and says he can take it from me – he’s just about to go shopping – and, he says, “You’ve already warmed the cart up for me!” I explain the Saga of the Shopping Cart to him and tell him he’s now the fourth person to have this shopping cart handed off to him. He smiles and nods and takes that friendly little shopping cart into the store.

I like to think that little shopping cart got handed from one customer to another all day long – connecting us all in a long chain of smiles.