Allen Saunders, writer, journalist and cartoonist, penned the quote and title of this blog back in 1957. At the time it was published in one of the more popular media available in that era - The Reader's Digest. I wonder what Mr Saunders would think of the current social and popular media these days. and the fact that reading his you are all reading his words on a "screen" of some size, and of some type of technology and from somewhere in the world.
Anyway his words ring true, as much now as they did an entire lifetime ago. The following video is the story of a day that "happened" while friend and I were busy making plans for a different kind of day. And this is how the story goes...
The plan was to pick up Portia, and go to our local pool for some laps.. but we stopped along the way, under a bridge. As we looked down along the creek we saw a beautiful rainbow sail boat and instantly fell in love!
Control was lost and we began making our way towards it to see if maybe the owners would allow us to go for a spin! I'm not usually so overtly familiar with strangers, but Portia is such a confident and loving girl that she preaches that human kindness is gifted if only you ask.. She's the type of woman who will bargain two for the price of one, kindly faces strangers just to say hello and is without a doubt one of my biggest idols. As we approached the boat, we noticed there was a bunch of three young females on the shore waiting for the boat.. Normally that would be intimidating to most people, but not Portia! We went up and introduced ourselves to the girls, and actually made three new friends within a matter of minutes! When the boat arrived back to the beach we started talking to the guys who were using it and found out about them as well as the boat - recently bought for only $400 on gumtree (an Australian version of Ebay) - bargain! And even though this was the first time it had been taken out, surprisingly the skipper offered to take us for a ride! Life jackets were pulled on quicker than we could say "woohoo!" And soon we were all laughs and smiles, cheeks sore and breeze in our hair, flying on the water. Next second, the mast SNAPPED and the entire pole and rainbow sail fell on top of Portia. Our happy sailing was still happy, but no sailing.. We were stuck! In the middle of the lake!
A kind family who was tubing approached us and pulled us on board their speed boat, then dropped us back to shore to the girls who were curiously and anxiously waiting. We explained what happened and waited for the family to go and help the others fix the boat over the other side of the lake. We chatted to the girls for a while, and then the family on the speed boat came back and offered to take us tubing! It was so lovely of them and such a pleasant surprise!
We joined the parents and three guys on their tubes, hooning around the lake! My cheeks and tummy were so sore from laughing so much! It was the perfect end to a day! When we returned back to shore, the boys had managed to repair the boat so we chatted over grapes with our new-found friends before heading to a new destination. The day wasn't yet over and we had somehow crammed more into a few hours than I have in an entire day in such a long time! The family and boys even invited us back the next day to do it all again!! People are so kind, and sometimes such kindness is the most wonderful of surprises!
All in all - a day that was meant to be - serendipitous even -
full of new friends, new experiences, drama, challenges, life, love and laughter.
“There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be...”
― John Lennon
Love and light,
Sjana x