Bikes and Babs
Y'all, I do not tend to believe that everything happens for a reason, and that no door ever closes without a window opening. But I have to tell you: strange happenings are afoot around here, things that, if I let them, could feel almost like...Fate.
Friday night, during the funeral ritual that leorathesane and I held for my job, I experienced one of those life-path-changing epiphanies to which I am sometimes subject (yes, Mom and Dad, I hear you groan, but I don't have to go back to school for this one!). I want to turn my blossoming bicycle fanaticism into a career path. As soon as I named the desire to myself, I instantly saw how to start making it happen, and I was so excited for Monday so I could get going.
The next morning, Leora and I walked into the Do it Green! gift fair, and the first person we encountered was Doug Shidell from Bikeverywhere. Doug and his wife Vicky were the first people I approached when I got serious about learning to ride, and stop by and see them wherever they have a table. I am now, at his request, writing a (semi)coherent narrative version of my evolution as a biker for the Bikeverywhere blog, and he's promised to hook me up with folks from local bike advocacy orgs and companies.
Then, today I took a drive to the Seward for a last-minute Thanksgiving freak-out. Who should I see there (besides the always lovely faedaughter and thicknwild) but Barbara Parks, my former career counselor. When we passed each other, I waved, and she waved back distractedly, seeming to have no idea who I was. About a minute later, she rushed up to me and demanded, "Does your website link to mine?"
I blinked. "What? No. It doesn't."
"Because I have had four different people mention your name to me in the past two weeks." I highly doubt that's true, but seeing me sparked something in her, and for that I am grateful. It turns out her business has grown so much that she no longer has time to keep up with everything she wants to cover on her blog. She's going to contact me about the possibility of writing some posts for her. For mon-ey..
I'm walking around a bit dazed. I met both Doug and Barbara in May of 2008. Seeds I planted a year and a half ago are bearing fruit at exactly the moment I need their sustenance. Perhaps, after all, the Mystery at the Heart of All does work in mysterious ways. They are, at the very least, mysterious to me.