Unexpected Acts of Kindness

I went on a hike today with a couple of girlfriends. We chilled on the beach and frolicked in the ocean for a bit and took our time enjoying being amongst the trees on the trail on the way back. It was great. We saw a bald eagle and another creature we couldn't quite decide on...the consensus seemed to be either a seal or a sea lion or something. Upon our return to the car, I happened to notice an RCMP vehicle parked next to us...we speculated as to the cause, but none of us had any inkling of the actual reason...

As we approached, the officer (who was uber cute I might add) greeted us and asked for one of us specifically by name. It turns out she had lost her wallet at some point that day (completely unbeknownst to any of us) and a good samaritan had turned it in to the policeman. He, in turn, had driven down to the trail head and ran my other friend's license plate through the system when he saw her parked car. He came to the conclusion that since they have the same last name (they're sisters), perhaps we had come back to look for the wallet and so he waited for us.

Nothing was missing and, in fact, he even produced and returned the Pringles snack pack she had been missing on the hike and assumed she had left in the car. Life sure is strange and wonderful sometimes :)

KISSing The Weekend Away

This weekend brought more last minute plans for moi. My brother, his girlfriend, and some friends were heading to Grand Falls-Windsor for Salmon Fest, which they had been planning for months. I was set to attend a family gathering. However, at the 11th hour, my baby bro called and issued another invite with the incentive of a reduced price ticket he had discovered online. After some consideration, I decided what the hell...you only live once and how many more opportunities will I ever have to see KISS? 

Needless to say, the trip was filled with many adventures. We spent a sleepless night at Red Cliff (which they were told was a totally different site but which actually only had a new name) followed by an early morning decision to uproot and look elsewhere for better accommodations. We figured the chances of finding somewhere were slim to none, but were determined not to spend another night at the campsite dealing with the behaviour that was going on and were wracking our brains for some solution over breakfast. Don't get me wrong, it started out as a great atmosphere and we were having a grand time, but with the wee hours also came raiding and escalated rowdiness in our area and by 7am we had had enough. When we told a local waitress of our plight, she initially had no suggestions to offer. However, she later came back and gave us her address so that we could relocate to her backyard. We tipped her very generously and headed over to set up camp. 

After a few unsuccessful hours of trying to catch some Zs in the heat, we got showered up, had a barbecue and a few drinks before heading to the concert. Our hosts had very graciously given us a key to their house in case we got back before them and needed to use the washroom or anything, which was, again, much appreciated. 

We made it to Centennial Field partway through Smashmouth's set and got situated in the crowd. We bypassed the beer tent with it's insane line ups in favour of enjoying the tunes we paid to see. The rain started as KISS hit the stage and we were soaked to the skin by the time they finished up, but KISS delivered and every uncomfortable rain drenched second was worth it. In fact, we didn't really notice at all until we walked back to the tents in a veritable river, freezing to death and wringing our clothes as we went, our fingers and toes shrivelled like prunes. We actually took turns changing into dry clothes in our hosts' woodshed with a flashlight and making mad dashes to the tents...which were a little damp but a lot better than anticipated as we trudged there to inspect the damage with high hopes and low expectations. 

Early Sunday morning we balled everything up, threw it into the vehicles and headed back, stopping in Gander for a bite to eat along the way. We left our hosts with an anniversary present and a thank you card and took with us the memories and the gratitude for the unexpected, above and beyond human kindness and hospitality we had been shown. 

Oh, and the guy from the other night? He was there as well. We had a bit of a thing going on Friday night, but he went his own way Saturday night. It's a little odd, as he is friends with my brother and that has made it a little awkward for both of us in the situations we've been in so far. When we said our goodbyes we did it as any other acquaintances would do, as if we hadn't been making out like teenagers every chance we got to be alone together both nights we were in each other's company. I'm not really sure how one goes about navigating these types of situations and so I just kind of acted as if nothing had transpired between us and he did the same...although I'm pretty sure we got busted a few times by our companions. I guess time will tell if anything becomes of it, but I'm not holding my breath. It was fun while it lasted and he seems like a nice guy, but I also think he's very much still in a playing the field frame of mind. And hey, if nothing else, I'm really learning to embrace spontaneity, prepare for things on a moment's notice, and being reminded not to get prematurely wrapped up in men. That's all got to count for something and I'm having a kick ass summer so far!

Lucky Day

It may be silly, but I just felt the need to put this out to the universe and say thank you...

In The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron writes about synchronicity - which she explains as things that randomly pop up in our lives when we are thinking about them. I had two such instances today...The first occurred when I was shopping with my mother and found facial moisturizers I'm running out of and have been contemplating ordering online, although they are somewhat pricey and I couldn't really justify buying them at the moment. Lo and behold, when I walked into Winner's, there they were on the shelf (I've never seen them in Newfoundland) for almost half the price I am used to paying for them. A very little thing, but I was thankful and happy nonetheless.

The second instance was when I (stupidly) locked myself out of my apartment this evening. I was thinking of the extra key my landlady gave me and wishing she was home so that I could see if there was another key floating around (I never thought I would be so lucky, but it doesn't hurt to check). It so happened that she was away, but her daughter was home so I went upstairs to look up a locksmith. Shortly after I called him (and was told it would cost me $60), she pulled into the driveway. I explained what had happened and she went over to her friend's house to see if they might have an extra key (they live on the same street and were taking care of the house for her after she bought it and before she moved in). Her friend was also out, but her husband handed us a ring of keys and said that one of them might be for the apartment, he wasn't sure. We walked back over to my place and, as luck might have it, the first one she tried got me in. I said a little prayer of gratitude for whoever/whatever was looking out for me and called the locksmith as soon as I got in. Unfortunately, he had arrived in the driveway by that time and was none to happy about it. I was sincerely apologetic, but he hung up on me anyway.

I suppose while I'm at it, there is a third thing that recently struck me as strange...one day last week, an old professor of mine from my MUN days popped into my head - I can't remember why. Oddly enough, on Friday night's performance of Messiah, I looked over to my left at the audience at one point and guess who was sitting there in the second row? I'm wondering if there is some significance to that and if perhaps he (or what he represents) is somehow a part of the answer to the puzzle of my life I've been trying to put together in terms of my career path and getting employed again. It's something to think about, anyway...

Although there are often weird coincidences that mean nothing on the surface, as one friend said to me a while back, "The signs of life are always there for us if we remember to look for them." It really makes you wonder sometimes...