Seven minutes before I was going to place an order for promo materials for Holley Kelley's book,, Sunrises and Sunsets (which is at the printer; I can hardly wait to get my copy and fill it out while leading a group), I got an email from Holley. She found an error that needed fixing on the flyer. Whew! That was close. PERFECT TIMING Holley!In late August, my husband and I left for a 14-day cruise to Alaska and Holley's book was just sent to the printer and we were anxiously awaiting the proofs! PERFECT TIMING again!! We are so grateful. The proofs came in right before we left. One day later, and who knows what we would have done! It would have slowed up the job to the point Holley wouldn't have been able to have the books for a huge conference she is attending.
In the last few weeks, I have lost count how many instances of PERFECT TIMING I have experienced. Talk about being "in the flow!" Things are meant to be! We drove about five hours and got on the cruise ship one hour before the deadline to board. Every connection on our cruise was in perfect order. After the cruise, traveling in Seattle with friends from Rochester, New York, and San Jose, California, the six of us were extra ecstatic when time after time we got a perfect parking spot in surprisingly busy locations.
Traveling 33 out of 38 days, I continually exclaimed what great travel karma I have. In Maine, while staying with my sisters at a B & B after my niece's wedding, I discovered there was a Scottish weekend event where there was a free castle burning the very night we arrived. I drove seven miles to get there (long story of getting lost), only to discover later it was only two blocks from where were were staying! In spite of my crazy wild adventure finding it, I arrived ONE MINUTE before the ceremony started and got photos and videos of the ceremony and the burning of the castle. PERFECT TIMING again! And the next day, as we check out of the B & B, we discovered there was an art fair right across the bridge from Topsham in Brunswick, Maine. Another PERFECT TIMING: something fun to do while waiting for the time to go to the airport.
But the granddaddy of PERFECT TIMING, of synchronicity extraordinaire, occurred the next day on my way home from Maine. I was scheduled to fly from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon via layovers in Baltimore and Phoenix on Saturday afternoon, August 15. After I got all checked in, there was an announcement that my plane was cancelled (as well as over 400 other planes due to the air traffic controllers' computer system was down in three airports around Baltimore/Washington D.C.). One might say, "Cleone, that is NOT good travel karma!" But wait. There is more to the story!
As my sister hugged me good-bye, she said, "Well, I wonder what lemonade you will make out of this!" She thought positively right from the beginning!! She was more prophetic than she realized.
The Southwest Airlines agent said he could get me home on a flight out of Boston two days later and I could catch a bus to Boston. I caught a cab to the bus station, bought a ticket ONE MINUTE before the next bus left (PERFECT TIMING again); and as the last person on the bus, I got out my cell phone, only to have the bus driver tell me that was against the rules and to hang up. However, I could use WiFi. I got out my tablet, went on Facebook, and posted a message about my plight, saying that I was on my way to Boston with no idea where I would be staying for the next two nights or what I would be doing until my plane left on Monday morning. I was on a real adventure! Checking on my tablet, I saw available hotels downtown Boston ranged between $289 and $429 - before taxes! This was looking like a very expensive solo adventure. It was not the airlines' fault, so there was no compensation from the airlines. All stranded passengers were on their own.
Then my daughter-in-law messaged me on Facebook and said, "Do you know that Paul is in Boston?" What! My son lives in Wisconsin and is a corporate pilot who usually travels during the week, not on weekends. Paul had never been to Boston in his whole life! But a company he had never flown for before had a last-minute need and contacted Paul and his co-pilot to fly to Boston for the weekend.
Bottom line: my son Paul picked me up at the bus station in Boston! I stayed with him in his room at a Hilton in a Boston suburb. And he found a flight on U.S. Airways for me to fly to Oregon on Sunday instead of Monday (saving me a hotel bill in Boston on Sunday night). Fortunately, with Southwest Airlines (I love Southwest!!), I could cancel my Monday morning flight and not lose any money or be charged for changing a flight. I just now have credit to apply towards a later flight.
I have noticed PERFECT TIMING many times, am always grateful, but spending a night with my son in Boston thousands of miles from where either of us live, a place he had never been and I had only been once before many years ago, has to be the most amazing example of divine order, of PERFECT TIMING, I have every experienced in my life.