Out of the blue
Paula just called to ask whether I am available to work for her for a few days. She is a good friend of good friends, a pleasant denizen of my wider circle with whom I share mutual admiration, but we are both strong introverts so affection has never drawn us closer. Actually she is one of my favourite people. Paula is the archetypical "soft butch", as I remember quirkstreet calling it. She carries an aura of patience and calm assurance. People who know her well respect her.
She is a landscape architect who grew tired of working in a firm and left her job to start her own business doing the kind of landscaping that feels worthwhile. When she mentioned it six months ago, I remember saying that if she ever needed help, I would love to work for her.
So I suppose this is one of her first jobs, and she needs help loading dirt and gravel. I seem to have earned a reputation for willingness to do heavy stuff. That's fine with me (maybe I am the other side of soft butch). It will take three or four days. Tomorrow I need to buy a pair of decent work boots.
There is so much good stuff coming out of the blue this week, I think I'll go cry now.