Synchronicity at An Estate Sale

Sometimes everything falls into place.

I'm showering, looking at the droop in the shower curtain for the millionth time. When we moved and hung the shower curtain at our new abode, one of the rings was missing. And like every shower before, I'm wondering where I'll be able to find that one curtain ring that matches the others.

I head off to an estate sale down the road — something I love to do — and wander through this mansion that must contain six bedrooms! I head down to the basement where there's a home theater, playroom overlooking the massive pool, fitness room, and a library. Naturally, it's the library where I find myself, gazing at rows and rows of books.

And guess what I find? A shower ring that matches my own. I'm so astonished, I squeal to the woman next to me.

"Can you believe this?" I say. "I was thinking about how much I needed one shower ring this very morning!"

She politely nodded and moved away and I went back to exploring. In the same section of that mighty house, I found a young adult book on Ralph Waldo Emerson and a book on UFOs, two subjects I'm researching for my latest Viola Valentine novel. I also booked a flight the day before for a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska, for stories I'm working on wearing my travel writer hat, and there in front of me — next to those books no less! — was a map of Fairbanks.

Is it the full Buck Moon, named after male deer who get their antlers this time of year that caused this synchronicity? Several deer in my backyard have been sporting some lovely headgear lately. Or is that sometimes you ask the universe for help and it replies? Or maybe I should take Ralph Waldo Emerson's advice, used in the title of the book, and trust myself. Trust that everything I need will arrive in good time.

If you're curious about the story I'm working on, my latest book in the Viola Valentine mystery series, titled "Ghost Fever," comes out this October. And yes, there's something about Emerson, UFOs, and possibly synchronicity.