June 23, 2007 - Small World

So many things happen to remind us what a small world we really live in.

Yesterday, Rick and I were relaxing in the Grecia park (ahhh a real park!), when we looked across the street to see JOE waving wildly at us! We thought we would miss out on seeing him again this trip, since he was showing his sister and her grandson around Costa Rica. But they started with downtown Grecia! How nice - we got to meet his relatives, and sit and visit for a while.

We are staying our final ;( week in a lovely Bed & Breakfast (B&B Grecia), less than 2 blocks from the central park in Grecia. Karl and Monika take excellent care of us! There is a priest who is also staying here. He travels a lot, but this is his first trip to Costa Rica. He went to an Italian restaurant, and struck up a conversation with the owner. They got to talking about the states; the owner is a former builder. Turns out, they knew each other - 40 years ago! The owner had built a church for the priest!

My favorite personal "small world" story is this:
In High School, a friend and I rode our horses around the levee roads, and found that the only way out was through the back yard of a house (this was definitely in the country - our block was 7 miles around). Next scene, a few weeks later: I am backpacking with my father for a week, heading for the top of Mount Whitney. We keep passing the same guy several times on the trail, doin' the backpacker's nod. Finally, we get to the mountain peak, sign the visitor's book, and enjoy our lunch while surveying the world below us. Suddenly, someone hollers "Hey! who's from Live Oak?" Hmmm - that's us! We look over, and it is the guy we have been passing on the trail. HE is from our town! So, we start talking, narrowing down where we live, and find out that - you guessed it - his yard was the one I rode through! :D We joked that he had a difficult time tracking me down...