they say this sort of thing is happening all the time...

We are in Manzanita for the week and the weather, at least for today, is delightful. I am sitting in the driveway of our rental hourse, poaching WiFi from one of the neighboring homes (not sure exactly which), and there is clear, blue sky and the mass of Neahanie Mountain rising up to my left and the sound of the ocean, two blocks away, at my back.

We are here, as every year, with a bunch of Portland friends, Karen's Mom (Sylvia - 97 but still feisty), and her best-friend-from-junior-high (Barbra, in a wheel-chair with MS for many years).

Karen and I slept late this morning. When I got up, Sylvia was nowhere to be seen. I figured she went out for a walk by herself, but knowing her limited eye-sight, was sure she was lost and, indeed, she was nowhere to be seen on the street. Moments later, my cell phone rang, and it was her attendant, from Pasadena, calling with a cell-phone number of someone here in Manzanita, who had picked Sylvia up.

I called that number and, naturally, they were only a few houses away. Sylvia could not recognize our rental house from the street, and didn't know the address. All was well.

Now here's the amazing part. The woman who picked Sylvia up and returned her to us had happened to mention that she had been living in Manzanita for 6 years, but was shortly about to move to Yachats, Oregon, where she didn't know anyone.

Sylvia then told her that one of her old friends has been living in Yachats for years, and gave the woman her name and contact information, and now she has someone to call when she moves there, who will no doubt welcome her and introduce her around to her network.

Maybe there are no 'coincidences' after all.