The Draw of Coffee

When I stop in for a cup of coffee at Peregrine on Capitol Hill these days, I inevitably meet someone I know.  How strange since I live nowhere near the Hill.

Earlier this week I went in for an early morning pre-physical blood test.  After 5 vials of blood were drawn, I decided to treat myself to a latte after weeks of abstinence.  After begging a spot at an outdoor table with a stranger who had a friendly dog, I had no sooner sat down but I heard my name from a nearby table.  

It was Mary, who owns Healing Arts, where my Wednesday night meditation group meets.  The longest previous conversation I had had with her was when I saw her for acupuncture several years ago.  How great to sit down and chat to learn that Mary loves to cook and shares other interests with me.  Long after the coffee was gone, we went our separate ways.

Today I had planned to meet Kristin at Peregrine for a lunchtime meeting to talk about our volunteer efforts to read to kids at the homeless shelter.  I hadn’t realized this was a birthday lunch for Kristin or I might have brought her more than a small square of chocolate to celebrate her 35th birthday!  She filled me in on her latest 60-mile walk for breast cancer and her plans to do a 24-hour walk on or around September 11 -- yes, she really means 24 hours without stopping to sleep!

After a few minutes the woman at the next table introduced herself as Mary Glynn, a good friend of Brock’s who had followed our recent Thai adventure on my Blog.  Maybe she was emboldened by the story I had just told Kristin about rescuing my husband’s shirt from the monkey with my cane.  

Then Sam, an old friend from meditation and the author of Organic Inc., which debuted before The Omnivore’s Dilemma, stopped by our table.  He is writing another book, this one on Bread.  I will be on the lookout for the new book since I am firmly committed to making our bread these days.

Kristin mentioned a few similar experiences of running into people she knew.  One of particular interest was on a plane from Cairo, where she was seated in the same row as someone who currently lives in the UK and whose wedding she had attended.

Chance meet-ups like these make one wonder if someone is choreographing or if they are simply random events.  In any case, I love the magnet of coffee that seems to attract me and people I know and like.  I can’t wait to see who I will meet the next time!

(The photo is the front of my Peregrine tee shirt!)