Serendipity. It’s one of my favorite concepts and it blesses me regularly. Perhaps it’s expectation—the knowledge that something exciting is waiting to be discovered just around the corner. What am I going to encounter in our garden this morning? Will I find a newly transformed damselfly or dragonfly sunning itself dry? Have more tomatoes ripened? What are the birds up to?
Healdsburg is steeped in serendipity…who am I going to see at the Healdsburg Farmers’ Market on Tuesday afternoon or Saturday morning? How many conversations will I have—short or long—at Big John’s this afternoon? I’m sure to find people who make me smile and laugh, encounter a friend I haven’t seen in years, or strike up a conversation with a new vendor at the market with exciting local products.
Recently I ran into Alicia after music in the plaza. I hadn’t seen her in too many years. As we hugged, chattered and caught up, I was immersed in the feeling of being home. Forty-six years in the area (Geyserville and Healdsburg) leave an indelible stamp. Some might say this is a characteristic of small town living but I suspect it’s also a result of expectant wandering.
This morning serendipity struck my muse (see, I don’t even have to go out looking). The first e-mail I opened (from the Sierra Club’s Daily Ray of Hope) quoted Thoreau, “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” That’s it! The expectation of seeing friends and neighbors, community and critters, and joy each time I step out my door helps serendipity find me in Healdsburg.
We met a wine-business friend from Massachusetts at last Tuesday's concert on The Plaza. He was in the area and had about an hour to kill between appointments. He said he didn't have time for a real visit, but figured if he walked around The Plaza a bit he'd bump into us because he figured we'd be there. And he was right! What a great surprise. Now that's serendipity.
ReplyDeleteI love serendipitous moments--I once met a man at a swim meet in San Diego who had lost touch with the friend who served as his best man more than twenty years before.
ReplyDeleteWe had talked about where we were from and he said that the friend was from the Santa Rosa area. When he mentioned the friend's name, I laughed out loud, and introduced him to his best man's college-aged son, who was on our team.