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BLOG 18

I live in a relatively small town (say 36,500) and we have several grocery stores (about 5). Yet – I will only see someone I know, about 1 out every 10 to 20 visits. I don’t know about you – but I rarely run into anyone I know in town. Either I don’t know very many people or I don’t go to the store enough.

A few years ago, I started seeing one individual around town (in retail stores) so often I began wondering about it.  I believe I mentally counted up – And I had seen an old work colleague of mine at the grocery store, the hardware store, the bookstore,  the gas station, the coffee shop and K-Mart. All within a period of 1-2 months.

I finally said to him, “George, we gotta stop meeting like this”!

He admitted it was somewhat unusual to see me so often. He went on to add – his daughter and kids had come home to live for a while and he was actually using our town stores to just “get out of the house”. I was re-leaved to know there was at least one plausible explanation, I was starting to get a little paranoid.  Interestingly enough – after that – I never ran into him again. Maybe he moved his “store time” to a nearby town or the kids moved out. I’ll never know.

Now here’s what happened yesterday.

Our daughter lives in a small town about 400 miles from where we now live. We’re briefly visiting on our way through during an extended vacation. We literally know 2 people in this town (Google says the population is 23,000) – her neighbors Joe & Sherrie. Like our town – this town has 4 or 5 grocery stores.

Yesterday –  I decided to go out and get some bread about midway through the day. I was going to go to the regular food store but at the last minute I switched to one of the others. I wanted the real “home baked” bread. Well, you guessed it, as I walked into the grocery store, I immediately ran into one of the only 2 people I know in this town. Sherrie saw me and said – “I know you”!  At which, we started a polite conversation on how our respective Thanksgiving Holiday’s went.

I bumped into her about 4 more times as we weaved our way around the isles – at one point she said (in a gesture of nervous surprise), “I’m really following you”.

I knew she wasn’t – but I also knew this was a really “Rare Event”. I only know her and her husband in this town and here I am in the same store at the very same moment with one of them. I’ve been to that store once in the week and a half we’ve been here. How did Sherrie and I pick the exact moment of day to be in that particular store?

Go figure.

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BLOG 17

The other day Bob Wenz  (See Blog 15 – ” Friends meet … “) e-mailed me with another really curious story. Here’s how it went in his own words:

I was attending the board meeting of National Association of Evangelicals in Los Angeles the first week of October. I wanted to give out copies of my new book, “Navigating Your Perfect Storm” to my fellow board members who are national ministry leaders and denomination heads.

The publisher arranged for a case of books to be shipped to LA and they arrived on Wednesday our meeting on Thursday. That was the first I had seen the book, the books having been shipped directly from the printer. I passed out the books and had a handful left over.

On Friday, I went to Sherman Oaks, north of LA to meet a friend for lunch at the Galleria shopping center. I presented Joe with a copy of my new book. After lunch we walked past a Starbucks with a big outdoor seating area and decided to sit and talk for a while.

My friend, Joe, went into Starbucks to get coffee and I remained seated outside.

Inside Joe went to the counter to order coffee and set the book down on the counter. The Barista, a young man about 20 looked at the book and said: “I recognize that book. My mother is reading it and really likes it”.

Joe told him that was impossible. The book had just come out and she couldn’t possibly have a copy yet. The Barista told him: I know it’s the same book – He said “It’s written by a guy with a serious lung disease, right”?.

Joe said, “Your right. I know – cause he’s a friend of mine and he’s sitting right outside”.

With that the young man came out and said: I wanted to meet you. My mother is reading your book and she loves it. Thanks for writing it.

Now, how did this woman get a copy of my book so fast? As far as I can tell only very limited number of books were already in distribution, and she had already had it long enough to know something about the author, to have read enough to have an opinion, and long enough to have shared that opinion with her son.

And, even if the first shipment from the printer had already gone to Boarders or whomever, it would only have been a limited number and only have been delivered a few days before.

And even if that is the case, what are the chances that I would walk into a Starbucks (in the form of my book) and be recognized by the son of one of the few people in the country to actually possess a copy?

Astounding!!!

Not only does this story have the element of paths crossing at a great distance (a RarEvent by itself) – But it also falls into the category of – “How’d this happen so fast“?

You know what? — I have no idea!  And to be honest – Bob doesn’t know either.

Thanks for sharing Bob!

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BLOG 16

In order for this story to be meaningful – You need to go back and read Blog 13 entitled “Plant ID Tags Found 750 Miles from Home”. Also, You need to understand – I live in upstate NY, but – I grew up in Montague, MI.

It’s fall and leaves are everywhere. Today – I got out my leaf blower and started to encouraging them to get off my lawn. About 20 minutes into the job I noticed this little tag (the one shown in the photo below) moving along with some of the leaves.

I immediately thought – this can’t be another Montague Master Tag plant ID tag. We never bought any flowers this year and I’m  not really that close to a lot of neighbors who do.

I couldn’t resist moving the blower away and picking up the tag. Sure enough it’s a Master Tag (tag). And to prove it I turned it over and found at the base of the tag the 2nd image shown below.

Master Tag Plant Tag

Master Tag Trade Mark LOGO

To someone else this would not be a “Rare Event” – but for me it is. I grew up in the town where these tags are made. Just how did this tag find its way to my back yard?  750 miles from where it was made. Why my yard? And in fact how did it remain there long enough for me to come out and see it?  The wind must have carried here to start with – it certainly could  have carried it on to the next lawn – long before I’d come and see it. BUT HERE IT WAS! GO FIGURE.

What a rare chance of finding this tag (or now 3 tags) all in my own neighborhood. I know these tags are not following me home, but these little quirks of nature continue to amaze me!

 

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BLOG 15

The RARE EVENT described below occurred about 20 years ago.  What happened is described in the words of one of my old friends.

Around 1990, I was a pastor in Southern California, where “Bill” was one of my best friends and strongest supporters in a conflicted congregation. Sadly, Bill and his wife drifted apart over foundational life issues and Bill began an extramarital relationship.  This prompted him to move out of his home and [eventually] end his marriage. He left the church and withdrew from his friends, resisting attempts from me and others to work out the issues he was facing. Soon after, Bill dropped out of sight and I had no idea where he was.

Two years later I moved to Washington DC to lead a less conflicted congregation.

In November of 2000 I traveled to Southern California for a conference in Pasadena.  I stayed at the Courtyard Hotel in Pasadena, a five-story hotel with a multi-tiered parking garage which offered guests direct access to their room’s floor.  It was late Friday night when I returned to my hotel after visiting old friends; and I wound my way up to the fourth level of the garage, followed all the way up by two people on motor cycles.

As I parked, they pulled past me a bit and parked on the fourth level.  It was a very chilly night and as I got out of my car, I called over to the two people dismounting their Harley’s in the dimly lit garage: “Kind of cold to be on a motor cycle tonight . . . .”

The response was startling: “Yes, Bob, it’s pretty cold.”

Here I was alone, 3000 miles from home and two strangers were coming toward me. As I stood near the door in better light, the two cyclists came closer and I could clearly see the man’s face.   Suddenly I realized – I knew the guy who answered me – These Harley riders were my old friend Bill and his new wife.

Agreeing to meet in the bar for a beverage of our choice – we ended up talking until 4 AM.

It turns out that Bill had moved from California two years before.  He had established residence in Las Vegas, sold his business in California and moved.  This particular weekend, he was in Pasadena to receive an award as “Alumnus of the Year” from this alma mater.

Bill and I have had a renewed friendship for the last ten years that has been significant to both of us.  We have visited annually during that time and he has invested generously in my ministry.  A new book, I just wrote, [Click Here to Review] is dedicated to Bill and his wife.

After hearing my friend’s story, the question that comes to my mind is – Did this chance meeting in a parking garage occur so that two friends might renew a needed longer lasting relationship? – Or was this meeting a serendipitous one that “just happened” for no particular reason at all.

As the reader – What do you think?

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BLOG 14

The frost is in the air,
football dominates every weekend, and
the geese are heading south -
it’s time to start blogging again.

OK – I admit it – I took a few months off, but I haven’t been sitting around.

Ten notable things I’ve done since my last blog …
(in no special order)

1. Talked with friends (LAUGHED – and heard some RARE EVENT stories)
2. Helped out during the birth of latest grandson (of course he’s wonderful)
3. Swam in Lake Michigan ( Went late at night – water was 75+ degrees)
4. Rode a 4-Wheeler (Hit a stump – got thrown off – IT  HURT)
5. Visited the house where I grew up (Remember the “good old days” ?)
6. Attended Class Reunion (Had a great time! – Noticed they’re a lot older)
7. Visited France & Italy – (Never did either before – But I’d go again)
8. Visited Branson (helped a dear friend and family)
9. Saw a Parade Featuring “Montague’s Beach Chair Brigade“
   CLICK  2  SEE VIDEO
10. Celebrated the 99th Birthday of the Dearest Lady I know (my Mother-in-Law)

NOW FOR THE LATEST RARE EVENT STORY

One of my classmates (I’ll call him Jerry) tells me how he ran into a mutual classmate some 48 years after graduation.

At the time each was in Florida (1500 miles from their homes in Michigan). The day they met “Unexpectedly” they were at the same flea market. One was sitting at a table. When the other thought he recognized him – he went over and asked – if he was from Montague – and the guy responded, “Yes”. Turns Out – They had graduated in a small class of 79 students in 1960!

Had they seen each other in the intervening 48 years? Maybe once at a reunion – but neither could remember if they had. How can two people, who can hardly recognize each other, meet and connect at a remote market 1500 miles from home?

Let’s just say – It’s one of life’s Rare Events  !!!

A Tip of my Hat – To “Jerry” for letting me tell this story.

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BLOG 13

Since I am presently visiting my home town of Montague Michigan – I must tell a “Rare Event” story about one the companies that’s been in Montague for years and years. The company is “MasterTag”. One of Master Tag’s main products is a small plastic horticultural plant tag that comes with every potted plant you buy at your local nursery or farm store. These tags all have a similar look and the two I am talking about today are shown below …

Plant ID Tags by Master Tag

Although you may not be aware of it, these tags are very important to the flowering plant industry – and they sell by the millions. Everyone needs to know how to care for the plants they buy and the information provided on these tags – tells you every thing you need to know . The name of the plant, where to place the plant in your garden, how to water it, and other pertinent information.

The two ID Tags pictured here – I found – on the street just a block from my present home in upstate New York.

Here’s what happened. Occasionally, I walk around my (NY) neighborhood for exercise and on two separate walks (about a month apart) I noticed a small tag laying on the ground along-side the road. Being aware of their “potential origin” – I couldn’t help but bend over and inspect them for a manufacturer’s name. To my surprise, each of them has the Montague Master Tag Logo! These two tags are from my original home town 750 miles away from where I live now.

How can this happen? I have no idea, but I am just amazed. Here I am – standing a block from my New York home – and I find not one – but two of these tags made in the town were I grew up. That’s  750 miles away. To anyone else, this would not be considered as a “Rare Event” – but to me it is! How do you figure?

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BLOG 12

My “RarEvent” story today is about two guys (Dan and Mike)
who first met at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

OOOOk-lahoma,
where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain,

As these words roll off the tongue – even the melody rings clear.
I couldn’t help myself. Some things are just ingrained in the brain.

After leaving college, two men I know, came to Fort Sill and became good friends. These two, did their normal Army thing and on occasion, they’d drink a couple of beers together. They became good friends. When their tour at Fort Sill ended, they went their separate ways – and soon lost contact with each other. It happens.

Now, fast forward about seven years. One of the guys, Dan, completed a tour in Europe and ended up moving to Schenectady, New York to work at GE. This first job lasted about 2 1/2 years and then GE decided to move him to Boston. There Dan took an apartment in the North End, since inexpensive apartments could be found there — and he’d be in walking distance of downtown Boston.

Boston - North End

Now you might want to know Dan is a runner – so almost daily he would leave his apartment and jog around town for exercise.  As a runner, Dan always checks his shoes, sets his watch, and turns on his iPod. On one occasion Dan took his time doing all his checking, but finally he stepped around the corner to head out on his morning run. His timing was apparently perfect for Dan came face-to-face with none other than his old friend Mike. His Army buddy from Fort Sill.

To say the least, they were both astounded. Dan and Mike had lived in Boston’s North End for the last six months – but they hadn’t seen each other until this moment. Without a doubt — This was a “Rare Event”.

One thing led to another and within a few weeks, both Dan and Mike decided they could live more cheaply — if they shared an apartment. That lasted for two years,  and once again they each moved on. Each is now married.  And once again they live many miles apart. Mike lives on the West Coast and Dan’s living in Ohio. However, they now keep in touch.

In a sense, this meeting was more than a simple matter of fate. For Dan it was a career changing experience. Through Mike — Dan met someone who would become his boss. I guess you could say this “Rare Event” ended up changing Dan’s life and his career. How do such meetings happen?  We may never know. For now let’s just say – it’s one of those Little Mysteries of Life.

A Tip of my Hat – To DK for telling me this story.

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BLOG 11

Before getting into today’s topic -
I’m going to take a moment to summarize all my previous blogs.

DON’T CLICK THAT RETURN ARROW YET…
TAKE A SECOND TO SCROLL DOWN – AND YOU MAY BE GLAD YOU DID.

I promise – I will not bore you with all the details.

Recently, I ran across the Wordle Website which has a wonderfully simple word based Graphic Generator. You can make your own “Wordle” graphics by going to http://www.wordle.net/. The graphic I made includes the top 50 words most frequently used in all of my previous blogs. The size of each word shown in the pictorial output, relates directly to how often I used each word.

So here you have it – a beautiful summary of all my blogging to date. Painless – yet to the point! As you can see thanks to “Wordle” – my blog concentrates mostly on … RARE, CHANCE, MEETINGS, over the YEARS,  with OLD FRIENDS, at TIMES when I am away from HOME.

Now -
Today’s Rare Event Story

It was a “Once in a Lifetime Trip” – Edie and I flew to Hawaii for a full week’s vacation. Our cottage was so close to the water you could throw a stone in it from the front porch. The cottage we rented was a mile from the “End of the Road” on the island of Kauai. The setting was beautiful — for all I know — the old movie “South Pacific” could have been filmed there. Today that Hawaiian vacation is one of our fondest memories – and as luck would have it – we had one of our longest distance Rare Chance Meetings on our way through the Oahu airport.

Unless you have one of those private jets and can fly wherever you want – you’ll probably fly to either the island of Hawaii or Oahu whenever you go there. When we went – we passed through Oahu. The day before we had arrived from our home in upstate New York. We didn’t go directly to Kauai, but we took time to do a day-tour of the island of Oahu, since we wouldn’t be back there any-time soon.

Laying over for a day in Oahu meant we passed through the Oahu airport 3 times during our trip. On our 2nd visit to the Oahu airport we were heading to the rental cottage in Kauai. As with all airports – you can spend several hours – just hanging out – waiting for your flight. This occasion was typical. While we were sitting on one of those hallway benches we noticed a couple of “Familiar Faces” approaching us. It was none other than Mr. & Mrs. Goodrich. The Goodrich’s were parents of an old high school friend. They were waiting on a flight home to Michigan, and decided to stroll around the airport. They had spent the week on Oahu.  As usual, neither of us had any idea – we were going to run into the other that day!

Again – I say – How does this happen? Here we are 5000 miles from home … the couple we run into is 4300 miles from home … that’s a total  of 9300 miles of travel and here we are standing a few feet apart. It’s amazing when you think about it! What are the chances: one in a million, one in a billion or possibly less?

What’s the chance of this happening? It can’t be infinite. If the real chance of this type of meeting is infinitely small – it would never happen – but it does – and this particular event is proof that it really happens.

It’s times like this — I like to reflect on what one of our children’s famous toy heroes used to say. It was in the movie Toy Story – the robot hero Buzz Light Year would say, “To Infinity – And Beyond” whenever he faced a “nearly impossible event”.

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BLOG 10

They say, home is where the heart is –
But for today’s story home is located in Sante Fe, New Mexico.

The story related here took place about 10 years ago.  The events, however, are still quite clear. Somehow the details leading up to a coincidental meeting (what I call a “Rarevent”) can stick in ones mind for a long time.  At least, they do for me.

Many of us live in suburban homes with friendly neighborhoods, and lots of kids.  And if you have young children as we did, you pretty much get to know all the families who live nearby.  Our son like everyone – got to know half a dozen kids in our own neighborhood.  One of his buddies lived just two doors away.  His friend was one of the McCall boys.

After the boys went to college, my wife and I decided to move on.  We didn’t go very far, we bought another house in another local development.  The McCall’s did a similar thing, but moved after we did.  By the grapevine, we heard the McCall’s had moved to a new place in town, but we didn’t know their address.  Our son, having also moved on to college was not aware that the McCall’s had also moved.

The McCall’s son eventually became an English teacher.  He found a position at a boy’s boarding school in England.

A few years went by, and our son was in graduate school and as college men are known to do, he met a young lass. This lass was from Ireland.  They eventually decided to marry, and the wedding – scheduled for June – was to be in Ireland.  As the time approached, invitations were sent out.  And of course, the McCall’s were on the invitation list. Now, with any wedding, things can get pretty hectic and some details will inevitably fall through the cracks.  In this particular case, the McCall’s invitation had mistakenly been sent to their “old home” address. The invitation was returned to my son – the envelope said “Unknown Address”.  Setting the invitation aside, my son and his fiancée temporarily forgot about the McCall invitation.

At the time our son was living in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Though scheduling a long distance wedding in Ireland was not complicated enough, my son and his fiancée decided to take a little side trip to France, just before the wedding. They were heading toward Europe anyway.  I guess the logic was – France is a lot closer to Ireland than Santa Fe – so why not go there too.  To get back to Ireland for the wedding, they needed to pass through London on the way.  Since the trip involve a slight delay in scheduling they decided to take a quick side trip to the London museum for a couple of hours.

As things would have it, they were biding their time and looking around at all the exhibits; when they came upon a circular display.  While standing there, our son looked up and who should be standing on the other side – you guessed it – Mr. McCall. And there it is – another surprise coincidental meeting of two “Familiar Faces in Far-away Places”. In this case – a 5000 Mile example.

Mr. McCall had come to London to visit his own son, the English teacher. It turns out he too had a little extra time and decided to check out the museum. Needless to say, while they talked – Mr. McCall finally received his own personally delivered invitation to the wedding.

How does this happen? …. Who knows? …. Maybe – someday, someone will know enough about statistics and know how to compute the probability of such events. Maybe we’ll all learn just how unusual these meetings really are. Till then, I’ll venture a guess, it’s got to be less than one in a billion – at least. Maybe you’re someone who can answer the probability question. If so – drop me a line.

Next time, I’ll tell about the time my wife and I were both 5000 miles from home and ran into another couple we knew.

Word Graphic of this Blog Created by WORDLE :  (  http://www.wordle.net/ )

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BLOG 9

In order to understand today’s blog -
It would be good if you reviewed my previous two entries.
In short – You gotta SLOG THE BLOG to understand the LOG.  See …
Blog Slogging in the Urban Dictionary.

For 2 days I reflected on one of the “Rarest Surprise Meetings” I ever had.
Further more, there were so many last minute twists in our journey
it was a wonder we saw our old friend at all!
A few questions I have to this day are …

1. Did all the last minute twists and turns in our journey just happen?, or…
2. Did those fateful twists keep us on track for the inevitable crossing of paths?
3. How did it happen, our friend moved to town 2 weeks before we arrived?
4. Why did I get lost? … trying to find the store?
5. How is it a chance phone call delayed my wife by the precise seconds needed?

The closer one gets to the actual meeting event – the curiouser the details. Of course,
one could say that everything before this “RarEvent” contributed to its outcome.
Some people go so far as to say, NOTHING HAPPENS BY ACCIDENT!
I’m inclined to think – it’s just the way the WEB of LIFE is WOVEN and TRAVELED.

Here’s why.

I’m a guy, OK? and what does a guy do when he’s lost? Right, he keeps driving.
I confess, one of the longest last minute delays in our journey – Was my fault!
I could have caused a minor delay – BUT NO – I had to keep driving (and driving).
If Edie hadn’t suggested politely “We could ask directions” –
I’d probably still be DRIVING.

To Me – RarEvent meetings between friends – old or new -
are one of God’s nicest gifts.
What do you think?