Serendipity

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Our son-in-law is a pilot which is cool. It means we can fly standby at a reduced rate anywhere in the world. It also means he is away from home for several days at a time.

His son Alex’s birthday party was on Saturday. Beekeeper Brian and I drove up to help celebrate and had planned to come right back. Then Caleb had to work, and Catherine was performing in a Basically Beethoven concert so they asked if I could stay and watch the boys.

Of course, I agreed. The plan was for me to catch a flight home on Sunday night or Monday morning, depending on which flight had seats.

We discovered early Sunday afternoon that the evening flight was full, and I was number 5 on the standby list. We checked the Monday morning flight. I would be number 4 on the list. As much as I love our grandkids, I didn’t want to spend all week waiting for an available flight.

Catherine, who has learned out of necessity how to shift plans, suggested we take the boys to a zoo about halfway between their house and ours. Beekeeper Brian could pick me up there and take me the rest of the way home. Great plan!

He was telling Rachel about the plan, and she decided she wanted to see her nephews and go to the zoo also. So, she drove up to meet us at the zoo. Even better, it kept Brian from having to make the partial trip so soon after the birthday celebration.

The weather forecast for that Monday was for rain. We explored indoor options but when we woke up there was no rain, so we loaded up and went to the zoo. Rainy weather would just add to the adventure.

We saw fish, a stingray, an alligator, and an elephant among other things.

After about an hour, it began to rain. We quickly made our way back to the car and went to have lunch. Catherine had brought dry clothes for the boys, so they slept comfortably on the way back to their house. Rachel drove me back to the house where Beekeeper Brian was glad to see me.

Sometimes when plans change, it turns into an adventure. I’d call that serendipity.