Sara has a favorite coffee shop that we went to in August when we were here last. This morning it was sunny but chilly with blue sky. A bright day good for a walk so we went down to the coffee shop. The owner is a friendly young guy who loves his trade and recognizes his customers. He even welcomed me back remembering meeting me last summer. We ordered almond milk chai lattes....yummmm. He then, as so many people do commented on the curly hair we both share. "Ah yes", I said. "We hope the baby will have curly hair too." He saw this as an invitation to offer a prediction. Becoming serious and pensive while contemplating all the possibilities. "I predict, it will be a boy," he said confidently. I also predict it will be 7lbs, 10oz." And then feeling he was on a roll he continued, "Lets see, he will be born on Sunday, in the afternoon and you will have only 2 hours of labor!" All this shared with a warm assuredness that only a serious and accomplished predictor could.
Following this bold and detailed prediction of not only the gender and day but also weight, time of day and length of labor Sara congratulated him for offering the most treasured prediction of all, only 2 hours of labor. Then from behind the counter appeared two beautiful almond milk lattes with the signature barista hearts. I commented, "the heart of the predictor". And he said ooooo that is a great title for a book or a movie. "Are you a writer?' I asked. "No" he said, "but, it would be a story of someone who makes predictions for everyone else but does not understand his own life, his own heart." Yeah, together we exclaimed he thought of a great story line! "Are you sure you are not a writer?" The coffee barista said definitely no but he was a thinker and a talker. He thought up ideas all of the time.
The story, The Heart Of The Predictor, can you see yourself as that story unfolds? Isn't it easy to watch others and from afar come up with ideas of where their life is headed? And then we get lost in the twists and turns of our own. What if we became a better predictor of our own lives? What if we knew ourselves so well that we always knew how to put that one foot in front of the other. But, even if we can learn to do that better it is the telling of the future that is really hard to do. How do you read the currents of time, the positions of the stars, the feelings that creep on your skin to know what is to come? Is this truly a gift of this Hallowell barista? We will see soon........
And who would have predicted that a beautiful artistic woman from Florida whose family is from deep in Mexico would open a shop just down the street and LOVE it in Hallowell? We strolled into her shop down the street. Again, a sweet New England style building with the cold air and snowy sidewalks contains a shop with the deep emotional art of a Mexican woman and images of Frieda Khalo, articles from Mexico and interesting pieces from other local artists. She told us her story of finding Hallowell and the feeling that she belongs here. Seems so unlikely but her story made so much sense. But who would have met her in Florida as she was raising her children and say, "I predict, you will one day move to a small village in the heart of Maine and love it there." If there is such a person I would like to meet them.
Our lives can go in so many directions and they do. There are so many things that I could never have predicted. But, sometimes after surprises come you can look back and see the trajectory, it was coming, you just did not know it. I predict many more of those. That is the heart of my prediction, many more surprises for me and you! Nothing specific. I am not one who reads the tea leaves, wish I was. Or do I truly wish that? Maybe the surprises are better. Like, not knowing the gender of this grandchild. We do not know. Sara and Ian chose to not know. It is going to be a surprise. I predict that! I love surprises especially ones like this!
Following this bold and detailed prediction of not only the gender and day but also weight, time of day and length of labor Sara congratulated him for offering the most treasured prediction of all, only 2 hours of labor. Then from behind the counter appeared two beautiful almond milk lattes with the signature barista hearts. I commented, "the heart of the predictor". And he said ooooo that is a great title for a book or a movie. "Are you a writer?' I asked. "No" he said, "but, it would be a story of someone who makes predictions for everyone else but does not understand his own life, his own heart." Yeah, together we exclaimed he thought of a great story line! "Are you sure you are not a writer?" The coffee barista said definitely no but he was a thinker and a talker. He thought up ideas all of the time.
The story, The Heart Of The Predictor, can you see yourself as that story unfolds? Isn't it easy to watch others and from afar come up with ideas of where their life is headed? And then we get lost in the twists and turns of our own. What if we became a better predictor of our own lives? What if we knew ourselves so well that we always knew how to put that one foot in front of the other. But, even if we can learn to do that better it is the telling of the future that is really hard to do. How do you read the currents of time, the positions of the stars, the feelings that creep on your skin to know what is to come? Is this truly a gift of this Hallowell barista? We will see soon........
And who would have predicted that a beautiful artistic woman from Florida whose family is from deep in Mexico would open a shop just down the street and LOVE it in Hallowell? We strolled into her shop down the street. Again, a sweet New England style building with the cold air and snowy sidewalks contains a shop with the deep emotional art of a Mexican woman and images of Frieda Khalo, articles from Mexico and interesting pieces from other local artists. She told us her story of finding Hallowell and the feeling that she belongs here. Seems so unlikely but her story made so much sense. But who would have met her in Florida as she was raising her children and say, "I predict, you will one day move to a small village in the heart of Maine and love it there." If there is such a person I would like to meet them.
Our lives can go in so many directions and they do. There are so many things that I could never have predicted. But, sometimes after surprises come you can look back and see the trajectory, it was coming, you just did not know it. I predict many more of those. That is the heart of my prediction, many more surprises for me and you! Nothing specific. I am not one who reads the tea leaves, wish I was. Or do I truly wish that? Maybe the surprises are better. Like, not knowing the gender of this grandchild. We do not know. Sara and Ian chose to not know. It is going to be a surprise. I predict that! I love surprises especially ones like this!
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