Synchronicity

Copyrighted by Lorna Tedder. Originally published in Third Degree Below.

We’ve  been  keeping  a  list  this  week  of  all  the good things and unusual little things that are happening. Sometimes, it’s amusing,  but  sometimes  it’s just downright hilarious.

Shannon has decided she wants an SLR camera for Christmas. She knows it’s expensive, but that’s what she really wants. She’s been asking family members  to forgo various trinkets and oodles of hair accessories and “stuff” for one big group gift of something that she really wants. She doesn’t care if she gets only one thing for Christmas. She’s taking photography in college next semester and is quite a good shot with a great sense of lighting and composition—a natural talent for her.

She’s felt pressured to figure out what kind of camera she might like  so she can let everyone know as soon as possible and just a few days before Thanksgiving, she was doing tons of market research online. She’d  narrowed it down  to  two  possibilities  but  really  needed  to  talk  to someone  who  could  tell  her  which  was  better  for  her needs.

Now where around here would we find someone like that on such short notice?

So off we went to the beach for our annual Thanksgiving  picnic  lunch  and  picture-taking  afterwards.  The beach wasn’t crowded at all, though there are more people every year. The whole time we were there, I saw less than a dozen people walk past us.

We started with me on the blanket alone, with Aislinn joining me next, while Shannon set up the tripod with my camera. She’d taken about three pics when an older man walked by and paused to say hello and offer to take a pic of the three of us. He had a big, honking camera around his neck.

That alone is unusual for our annual trek to Thanksgiving lunch. Once every few years, someone will offer to take a picture for us, but it’s extremely rare to see someone out there who looks like a professional photographer. These beaches aren’t private but the locations I choose are more secluded than most.

So he and Shannon struck up a conversation  about cameras.  He  was  very  respectful,  keeping  his  distance from my teenaged daughter and making sure to direct his attention to me as well.  Surprisingly  (or not!),  he happened to own two cameras—the kinds Shannon had been considering—and gave her the advantages of each.

Five minutes later, he’d gone on his merry way and Shannon had the information she needed.