Several weeks ago in Orlando, we went to The Hammered Lamb, for dinner. It’s an open place with tables that are socially distanced ,and also dog friendly.We met Megan’s friend, Veronica, there and she had her boyfriend’s dog, Simba, with her. A deaf husky.We had our dog, Nigel, and Megan’s dog, Nika. Before we had left Megan’s house, she changed into her running shoes because it was chilly and we were going to be sitting outside. It’s an important detail in this synchro.
So we get to the restaurant, order lunch, and get the dogs situated. The restaurant is next to a track where trains speed by about every thirty minutes.At one point, Simba, the deaf husky, suddenly slips out of his collar and takes off across the restaurant. Veronica shoots to her feet and chases him. He makes an abrupt 180 and races in the opposite direction – toward the tracks. Megan leaps up and she and Veronica race after Simba. The whistle of an oncoming train echoes.
I sit there, two dogs attached to the leg of my chair, and wonder why I’m not moving. It’s not just that if I get up, the dogs will follow me and drag my chair behind them. Rob is still seated, too, and I know if Nigel and Riley try to follow, he’ll grab their leashes. In my head, I see the deaf husky barreling down the tracks, Megan and Veronica chasing him, and the train charging toward them. I still don’t move.
Rob finally gets up to take a look. I still don’t move. I don’t feel that panicked urgency I feel when Megan is in danger. I don’t feel my heart hammering, adrenaline doesn’t course through me, sweat doesn’t leap from my pores. I wonder if there’s something wrong with me.
Then Rob sits down and before I can ask him anything, Megan and Veronica appear with Simba, who Veronica quickly leashes. They’re shaken. Simba paces. Megan and Veronica talk fast, at the same time, words tumbling over each other.
Megan: Oh my God, oh my God, I thought we were dead.
Veronica: I tripped and hit the ground…
Megan: I saw Veronica pitched forward and I ran faster and saw that train racing toward us, the sound of that whistle deafening. And I get closer to Simba and remember that the way you deal with a charging horse is to make yourself as tall and imposing as possible so I throw my arms into the air…and he suddenly veers off the track….and I grab his collar…”
She pauses for a breath of air. “It’s crazy, but if I hadn’t changed my shoes before we’d left – I was wearing sandals then – I wouldn’t have been able to run after him.
Yes, weather was a factor. The air was too cool to wear sandals outside the house.
But. I’ve known Megan to wear sandals outside when it was in the forties. So, was it precognitive on her part to ditch her sandals and pull on her running shoes?
Was precognition at work when I didn’t move?
Specifics aside, Simba was caught, no one was hurt, and the train hurled on through the city of Orlando.
Precognition and synchronicity, one and the same thing. I believe you were fully present in the moment, Trish.
The Hammered Lamb seems like an unusual name for a restaurant. It would make an interesting title for a book or a poem, so rife with association is the descriptiveness of it. That moment was kind to all of your lambs on that day.
It definitely was!