It was cold here last night (the 15th), at least for South Florida. Our neighbors brought out their fire pit, which was loaded up with woods and logs, and suddenly it turned into an impromptu party. We had marshmallows that we roasted on skinny sticks, wine, even music from the radio. At one point, Janette was telling us how she and her son had just watched Christmas Shoes, a movie none of the MacGregors had heard of, not even Megan, who’s an expert on movies.
“What’s it about?” Megan asked.
“About a boy who loses his mother,” Janette replies. “We’ve got it on DVD if you want to watch it.”
“Sounds too sad,” I said.
“Well, it’s sad,” Annette (the other twin) said. “But it’s really good.”
And right then, just as I remembered that the twins had lost their mother when they were only 10 – a very sad story–a song comes on the radio and the twins glance at each other and shout, “Synchronicity! That’s the theme song to Christmas Shoes!”
OK, it’s not a huge synchro. But just that day, after we had posted Sylvester, Darren, and Peter Gabriel, a post about song synchros and a cat, I was thinking that I couldn’t recall ever having had a song synchro. It bugged me. And then, a few hours later, there it was.
Merry Christmas to everyone!
trish, way to go! necessity being the mother of invention – or in this case, cooking till done!
Lawrence – those are cool book synchros! I always liked Koestler's reference to them as library angels. There are also plenty of bookstore angels around, too!
Gypsy – today we're baking the turkey using broil, with turkey on lowest part of oven. We'll see what happens!
you know, i was thinking about this particular post and realized that these little things happen so frequently to me, are so "ordinary" in my own life, that i actually don't perceive them as "extraordinary" at all – and i'm actually surprised to read posts dedicated to them – i imagine that's something a lot of us do [in terms of perception] –
quite astonishing. yet, thinking of a song, and then hearing it shortly thereafter, yip, that's happened to me a few times…
In passing these 'free dumped book' snychros have happened to me before and since! I will explain, I don't mean book snychros where you accidentally find a book at a library or browsing in a bookstore on a subject you were interested in for some time and the book was just what you needed, even though you were not actively looking for it. Arthur Koestler called this phenomenon the 'library angels' and that happens to me quite a lot. I mean books that have been dumped in the garbage or left on a park bench and they were just what I was looking for! I once picked up a few books on HIV/AIDS, a subject I have researched quite deeply and am interested in, when I most needed it. Somebody had dumped a lot of books outside his apartment and they were on gay subject matters for the most part. A few of the books were on AIDS and written by well-known gay AIDS activist Larry Kramer. Oddly enough, I was researching gay AIDS at that time (no I am not gay myself) and wanted to know quite a lot more on Kramer and his writings since you can't research gay AIDS/GRID without reading Kramer. Lo and behold in a box left outside an apartment block in my neighborhood, somebody, almost certainly gay, leaves behind two books on AIDS and gays by Kramer! No I do not live in San Francisco or New York, in fact my neighborhood is very working class, so it's not the kind of books you are going to find easily enough, even if actively seeking them out!
Weirdly enough on Christmas eve not two nights ago, the day after my find of Charlotte Allen's book, I have another free dumped book synchro! I have an interest in abnormal psychology, I minored in psychology in university but have picked up an interest in the more arcane and marginal side of psychology and sociology. Yet the only stuff I have on abnormal psychology is on my harddrive of my computer and it's not much. I have thought to myself, I just need a standard undergrad level textbook on the subject, nothing more than that, for my interests that's good enough. I would never fork out the money for a textbook on the subject, new or second-hand since it isn't that important to me. So lo and behold when walking home on Christmas eve, outside another apartment block in a neighboring suburb, some more books just dumped by the pavement. One of them was a textbook on abnormal psychology, a standard university undergrad textbook in good condition and a recent edition too, edited by Ronald Comer. It's one of the most commended introductory textbooks on the subject. Just what I needed. Kind of a christmas present from Koestler's library angels, along with the Allen book the day before. Seems you don't have to be a Christian to get free Christmas book presents from the synchro gods!
Here's a synchro relating to Christmas worth telling, that happened to me three days ago, the day of the 23rd, the day before Christmas eve. I had left my apartment and was walking down to a local shopping quarter when I noticed somebody had dumped a whole bunch of documents, papers and a few books next to the garbage cans, a few houses down on the street where I live. I was curious being a bibliophile what books they were, and what else had been dumped. The documents and papers were uninteresting beauracratic stuff and none of my business anyhow, yet two hardcover books in very good condition were left as well. One book was about abuses of corporate power and corporate mismanagement. The other was Charlotte Allen's "The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus", an acclaimed book on the history of ideas and the evolving views on Jesus over the centuries including the more sober historical research.
It was kinda odd that somebody would just throw these two books out with the garbage, since they were hardcovers in good condition and would be bought for sure by second-hand bookstores which are not far from our neighborhood at all, yet whoever threw them away obviously couldn't be bothered. Also think of the timing, this book was dumped and I conveniently discovered it, a serious historical study about Jesus, the day before Christmas eve. I'm not a Christian at all, yet this book is a historical study of Christ and thus would apppeal to somebody like me, since it's not an orthodox or apologetic book at all, yet not a sneering one that condescends or mocks Christians neither. In other words, it is right up my alley. So I took the book.
oh, dear, not a half-baked turkey!!! i can't even go there!!! 😉
so sorry!! but how did you manage your dinner otherwise? so wish we were next door or even down the street! my oven was working and i had so much food here it's not even right! sent huge baggies home with everyone –
hope everything else was as planned and/or as wanted!
still thinking about the mewing cat i heard and your visiting himalayan – it's so lucky to have you all as a surrogate FAM!
Your bank fiasco was the start of merc retro! Our half-baked turkey will have to go in a neighbor's oven tomorrow!
neat story, you two – and interesting you mention your "visiting" himalayan, trish, 'cause just this morning, in the wee hours, when i got up for a minute, i would have sworn i heard a cat mewing – i mean, as if it were in my apt – but i've no cat, nor does my upstairs neighbor have a cat – but i know i heard mewing coming from the center of my apartment – the incident stayed with me enough that at xmas dinner, i told the story to everyone about how i heard a cat mewing in the wee hours of the morning and it seemed to be coming from inside my own apartment – then, when i turn on my computer for the very first time today, there is your comment about the beautiful himalayan – hmmmmm…..
oh, and beautiful tree! i can smell it's fragrant branches from here!!! yummmmmmm……..
so sorry for your little retro quirk with your stove today – of course, yours follows my own of the bank/cash fiasco, my washer going out, several gifts not sent at all from the vendors even after i'd gotten shipping confirmations, my daughter's car purchase not going through for more than 10 days, and my sister's computer crashing, and……but i've plenty of breads left over here, so if your biscuit's didn't quite make it, just run over and i'll fix you a bread-baggy! 😉
merry merry to all and to all a good evening!!!
Here's an Xmas merc retro story. We got back from the dog park and were going to put the biscuits in the oven with the turkey – only to discover that the oven stopped working. So now we're improvising!
Good one!
Hope your day has been happy, we are suffering next dayitis from too many Rums under the tree last night. Ho,ho,ho,ouch!
burized? I might take that to be blurry eyesed. 🙂
Merry Merry.♥
Good one! 🙂
Ho HO HO! Merry Christmas everybody, wherever you are! Love this WV: "frineled" friend led!!!
Has to be Trish and Rob! cj
🙂
Beautiful Synchro! Merry Christmas!
And right back to you both!
I wish you a Merry Christmas and good cheer throughout the holidays and into the New Year.
Love it.
What a great Christmas synchro.
The radio can be a great source for synchronizations,indeed.
I hope everyone enjoys/enjoyed their Christmas day
(It's now Boxing day in Australia)
Happy Holidays,Rob,Trish,and all readers of this blog.
Cheers / Daz