Sweet Synchronicity

Today a young man approached me on the patio at Burgers & Brew and introduced himself as a “huge fan.” He said that he had read “Where’s Jukie?” and told me how much he enjoyed the book. I thanked him for sharing, and as we talked, I remembered where we had once met. “Hey! Didn’t you deliver a challah loaf in the shape of a turkey to my doorstep on Thanksgiving?” Yes, he had. When he told me that he had just arrived from Chicago (where he attends college), and that he had driven straight from the Sacramento airport to Burgers & Brew to eat lunch, I told him that I was getting one last B & B fix before heading to Chicago in the morning. We laughed at the synchronicity and swapped stories of our favorite Chicago haunts.

As I biked home, I realized that I never even got his name, but I knew that he had just made my day.

Thunderous Lights

I love fireworks. I love everything about them. I love the hot bike ride to the park and then the chilly ride home. I love the Davis community sharing in the experience with our collective “ooooh’s” and “ahhhh’s.” I love the fireworks that seem so slow to reach the sky, and that pause for just a moment longer than you expect before filling the sky with a gentle pop of cascading embers. My favorite are the ones that shoot toward the sky so fast you know their BOOM will quickly follow, an experience felt in your chest. I love snuggling together on blankets with my family and watching the kids’ faces in the reflected and thunderous lights. I love how Jukie enjoys the fireworks more each year, this year actually laughing after some of the ones he liked best.