D and I had taken KTB to Forest Park, and we found a beautiful kite up in the air, that we could see far away….

We realized that the kite was flying from a point where two people were sitting, comfortably, on folding chairs, talking. I went up to them and complimented them on the beauty of the kite. The lady said her name was Jacque, and said she'd bought the kite three years ago....but this was the first time she was flying it.... And, also, this was their first date! The happiness on their faces told me very clearly that it was going very well indeed. I wished them the best, and they asked me to take a photo of them with the sunset and the kite in the background: I obliged, and gave them my visiting card, so that they could email me and I could send them the photos. However, as the days passed, I never heard from them, and just gave it up as one of those encounters that often don't come to anything more. Day before yesterday, I took KTB for a walk in the park, and it was a long ramble...6pm to 8.30pm, from front door to front door (yes, with a 3-year-old in a stroller, a ramble of about 3.5 miles, with stops for birding, duck-chasing by KTB, turtle-watching and owl-watching by both of us, AND a stop at the playground.... IS long one, I can assure you.) I was crossing the road near the Visitors' Center on my way home, and a convertible stopped for me. (This is going to KILL me when I get back home, I always feel. Traffic comes to an IMMIJET halt when anyone STEPS on the road....and if there is a baby carriage, double that. When I come to India, I'll do the same thing, and be Deepa Chutney in no time at all....) As I crossed, I heard yells of "Madam! MADAM!: and looked back...to see that same couple, Frank and Jacque, in the convertible (with the top down due to lovely weather), trying to get me to hear! Jackie told me she had emailed me twice but that it had bounced (why, I have no idea...) So I took Frank's visiting card, this time, and I have just finished sending him the pictures of both of them, with the kite in the background. What are the odds of our crossing each other's paths in Forest Park, at that spot, at that instant, I wonder? What a coincidence!

I hope to be able to meet them once I am back from my Carnatic music concert (oh, yes, I am giving one on the 16th in Memphis, Tennessee, they wanted a repeat of

last year

and I am thrilled!)

Here’s a silhouette of Frank and Jacque, too:

Q. What is coincidence?

A. When a metal piece of currency is seen randomly on your path….