It happens on an early morning walk with my dog (big dog, little dog, or all of the above), while it’s still dark. Or on an evening walk after the sun has set.
I see the headlights of an approaching car. Or I see light from a car coming up behind me. I walk close to the edge of the road. We have no curbs or sidewalks in our community, so I get right up to the edge of the grass.
I slow to let the car pass. The car slows down. I look down so I’m not blinded by the lights. Or I glance back, wondering if they see me. As I cross in front of a driveway, that is the very driveway the car enters. Of all the driveways on the road, I am in the middle of that one when someone arrives at their home.
This happens more often than not. So I wonder, “Is it coincidence?” Why did our paths converge at that moment? Am I in their way? Or are they in mine? I could have walked a little faster. They could have driven slower. Why did we meet at that hour, minute, and second?
It happens once or twice a week. Too often to be coincidence. But there’s no rhyme or reason to the encounter. It’s pure irony that the moment I walk past a driveway, those residents are pulling in.
Sometimes I am really annoyed by this. Why now? Why didn’t you drive a little faster? Why didn’t I leave a little later? Why are you in my space – or why am I in yours?
I imagine they ask similar questions. “What is he doing here so early in the morning?” “Doesn’t this guy ever sleep in?” “Give me a break. I just worked the overnight shift. Get out of the way.”
A few months ago, I realized that almost everyday, I glance at a clock at exactly 7:22. Sometimes it’s am. Sometimes pm. It might be my watch, the clock in the car, the microwave in the kitchen, the cable box under the TV, to the lock screen on my phone. On a daily basis my eyes see the digits 7-2-2. By the way, that’s my birthday, July 22.
Waite for it... 