Odd things happen: Life’s ledger is messy, but it balances

The universe does hear you, even if it answers oddly. Oddness seems to be following me around, both the ‘funny peculiar’ and the ‘funny ha ha’ kind.

I woke up this morning just before the rain began to fall. There was no gentle pitter-patter; the strong wind, thunder and lashing rain were quite in tune with my emotions when I had gone to bed the previous night. A new acquaintance had invited me to a party and then behaved in a manner I found inhospitable. On my way home, I sent a message expressing my feelings plainly. He replied with an apology. I thought I could leave it at that, but an injured ego takes some nursing. I was also famished after strength training and swimming, and the paltry nibbles at the cocktail party had not sated me. A snack of healthy homemade hummus roll and some comfort-watching on Amazon Prime helped me unpack my feelings; I decided not to dwell on someone else’s mistake. It would be best to let it go, along with the relationship that was anyway in nebulous territory.

The morning brought another apology, and I wondered whether flowers might follow. I am such a sucker for such gestures, for all my much-vaunted feminism. Flowers did arrive, a pretty and fragrant bunch. But they were from someone else, a woman who had invited me to speak at her book club about the book on TTK Prestige that I co-authored. The universe does hear you, even if it answers oddly.