Circle Patterns

Have you ever noticed that life moves in a pattern?

A few weeks ago, I stopped by my grandmother's house for a visit. Her bathroom looked like a pharmacy. I was unaware she currently needed that much medication and was concerned. She said it was from last year when she was sick. (She was super sick last winter; we thought we were going to lose her. Should have known better. She's going to be 89 this year - tough as ever.) She knew not to flush the medication but found the Triad pill drop option too far away as she no longer drives much. I offered to drop them at the next Triad for her. So, the unneeded medication came home with me and was placed in a brown bag labelled "5/16 - TRAID"  - that way I wouldn't forget. The very next day I got an e-mail from my church - that Sunday we were collecting unexpired prescription medication to be given away on a medical mercy mission to Cuba. Problem solved!



During the same visit, my gram and I discussed Texas  - both environmentally (she is concerned about the draught and has a theory) and as place where some of my family lives (my father, several of the aunts). She mentioned that the first song she heard in America was "The Yellow Rose of Texas" - she remembers all these years later that she did not understand the words at the time but liked the tune. The link version is probably close to what she heard as it was on a 1954 LP- and now I know why she liked it! It has a "marchness" to it. (Although I'm still trying to figure out who would have played it for her as my grandparents and mom were sponsored by a New England church group....)

I read a fascinating memoir called In the Sanctuary of Outcasts early this month. (On a related side note, I'm now terrified of armadillos. In the "who knew?" category of information, armadillos are the only other mammals to get leprosy. Of the 150-200 new cases of human leprosy reported each year in the US, virtually all are in LA and TX where there is a high prevalence of leprosy in armadillos. Manner of transmission unknown, no test to determine who is susceptible, no vaccine but it is now treatable.) After finishing the In the Sanctuary of Outcasts book,  I realized that I had another book on a similar topic on my unread bookshelf,  Moloka'i.  (It is fiction, but is about a real place - the leprosy colony in Hawaii.)  Now it is on my bedside table waiting to be read. The subject matter is coincidental; it's the warmer weather I'm attracted to.

Last month I read the "Nellie Oleson" memoir. (Favorite quote: "Any idiot can be likable. It takes real talent to scare the crap out of people." Alison Arngrim. Follow her on Twitter @Arngrim) Then, February 7th was Laura Ingalls Wilder's date of birth. The finale of coincidences happened early last week when I saw that PBS is planning a musical salute to Little House on the Prairie. I'm a little excited about that! (Ex-fiddle playing geek. That's the excuse I'm going with....)

These small links happen to other people and in much bigger ways. Nita over at Mod Vintage Life had a Jason Wu encounter. There was a great Internet story about a passport found at a Paris flea market the other day too.

Maybe the pattern is more like a wave.  (Sheldon would know). It's still interesting.

Take away - Pay attention. This is your life. Sometimes interrelated things have meaning, and sometimes life is just cooly weird.

(This is a February post from a prior blog. It's one of my favorites. I thought it worth sharing one more time. Thanks for letting me revisit it.)