Sometimes you only get one chance

This morning, around 9:40, I had to mail a letter and return a few library books and while I should have walked the 7 blocks (14 round trip) I decided to drive so that I could listen to Jennifer Nettles sing STAY.

A nice way, I thought, to start the day...and as I got in the my car and turned on the CD I immediately knew I was right in making the decision to be lazy and abuse the environment one more time.

There is a stop sign at every block in my residential area of Santa Monica and I had made one or two stops or maybe three, when I noticed in the middle of the block a cute woman sitting on a lawn chair with yard sale stuff. It was a small group of things on a blanket.
She had picked a piece of grass that was semi-hidden behind cars and I thought her location was rather silly but I caught a glimpse of her face, partially hidden by a baseball cap, and my first thought was "wow, that's a really pretty face for a yard sale." I noticed that she was next to an alley and decided to pull back around the block and ask her if she wanted to listen to a great song.

The next thought was the thought that it might scare her and I should just move on to the post office and the library and maybe stop on the way back and see what she was selling and find out how good her face was....

My very next thought was.....she would love listening to the song and it would make her feel better....but I quickly replaced that idea with one that prevents partial stalking.

If men do it right than it's called being a hound dog......if it's done wrong than it borders on legal problems.

I selected the non-invasive action and drove on......keeping in mind that the strongest instinctual thought was the one about her feeling better after listening to the song.

NEO-ILLUMINATION moment...."with well developed intuition....there are no surprises"

I know when and when not to interact with other human beings and I felt this was one moment I should have shared....but lately I haven't (physically) been myself so things are a bit off center.

I went to the post office and then I went to the library, which took about 15 minutes and drove back along the same route I had previously traveled with sole intention of checking out yard sale face....and maybe even see if she had a book I might buy.

Playing the song option was long gone. That was the moment with the chance and the moment I let dissolve..

As I drove by the location where she was.......there was nothing except grass.

I thought it was strange and then realized I must have been on a different street....but that didn't seem possible because the route is one I've done a thousand times...

I drove up and down the only three streets she could have been on and I'm here to report that sometimes you only get one chance.

Sometimes you have a moment and within that moment you either understand intuition and use the other senses or you just continue traveling on the road of previous practicality...that really doesn't work all that well, but keeps you following the status quo.

That attractive woman was there to hear a song by Jennifer Nettles played from the car of a complete stranger...and when that moment passed she picked her stuff up and moved on with her life.

THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE FAR OUTNUMBER THE KNOWN REALITIES

I know what I know and yet I still let aha moments pass me by.

What the f..k was I thinking?

And of course there are always two sides to every story......or 50 if you've got the time

here's one possibility

ONE MINUTE after I had passed her.......her boyfriend showed up and asked what the hell she was doing and she told him she was selling his stuff because he was not paying enough attention to her and he apologized and asked her to marry him and they packed up and left for Vegas.

SEIZE THE MOMENTS WHEN THEY APPEAR AND TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS
and make sure you get
your library books
back
on
time
but
remember
sometimes you only get one chance


Michael Timothy McAlevey