Do you find it fascinating the way a chance meeting can affect your day? This is one of those days.
I was walking along Main Street in a small town along the Hudson River, when I met a stranger I’d seen every so often in that town. She stopped, smiled, and began talking to me – one topic after another in a dizzying array of words. Finally I interrupted her to ask a question about a path I was on my way to explore, one I’d heard about from a local who had said that “it’s absolutely beautiful,” and that she’s been walking it since “forever.” And now I wanted to walk that path.
The path I was looking for was along the Hudson River, and supposedy the place to start exploring it was near the train station. However, my new stranger said, “No, I wouldn’t go there. You’ve got to be really careful. Ticks are all over the place.” Well, I’m a city person, and not an expert on ticks. So, I said, “Other people walk it.” As I said that, I realized it wasn’t a good enough reason in favor of the path. And her response was, “No, “I wouldn’t. I have friends who have lyme disease.” And again she said, “There are ticks all over the place. Soon after that, we said goodbye. I decided to walk back into town.
In town I visited a small antique shop where a few weeks before I had bought two lamps. I was there only a few minutes when the owner started talking about not feeling well, that she’d gotten lyme disease 13 years ago, and it had been under control with antibiotics, “and now it’s showing its mean way again,” and she was worried. I didn’t know what to say, but it seemed tick talk was in the air.
I left the antique shop, and along the way looked in at a charming place where I’d once bought a happy Buddha, and wanted another one. As I entered I saw that the saleswoman was very busy on the phone. After a while I was beginning to think that somewhere along the line I’d become invisible. Every time I approached her, she paid no attention. Finally, she put the phone down and started talking. She said she thought she’d gotten a tick from her dog, and was finally able to get a doctor’s appointment. I didn’t say much. So distraught was she that she would have left me in the store as she hurried by. Out I go, and as I crossed a driveway, the anxious one came barreling out of a parking lot, and almost clipped me. I saw the expression on her face, and hoped she’d make it to the doctor’s in one piece.
I didn’t want to hear any more about ticks. I went to the library and got a book by P.D. James, then a coffee, and sat in the back in a lovely garden, and read.
That night I couldn’t get to sleep. I felt a slight pain running up my leg. Then I began thinking about ticks. And I thought . . . Oh no, lyme disease? I had to have a talk with myself to put an end to that thought and to remember that. . . .
“Anxiety is the mark of spiritual insecurity.” – Thomas Merton
“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” – Madame Curie
The next time I was in the area, I walked into that charming shop and asked the owner how she was. “Fine.” she said. “No tick.” She was happy, so very happy.