Countdown

I have always wondered who calls time on time? I don’t have the answer. I have been gifted close to sixty years and have continuously found new ways to make the most of what time I have.

I will turn sixty in thirty days time. There is a certain symmetry to that line. So in the next thirty days I intend to reminisce over the past and the not so distant past. I will not try to make sense of everything but I will certainly share tidbits of myself. I might even write some new poetry. Some I may even share. Who knows?

We can never really understand life. It works in very strange ways. Each of us is born in different locations, and in different situations. Some of us are luckier than others. Some make our own luck. Some have no luck to speak of and struggle each and every day.

I have had my ups and downs. But I suppose the odds that were stacked against me were not as bad as those faced by others. I will talk in more detail about my childhood in another post.

As it is, I am fascinated about how life can be unpredictable in both good and bad ways. This week has not been any different. Something strange happened. I am happy to say that it was good strange.

I have been looking for new ways to present my poetry. And news ways to stimulate my writing experience. I decided a couple of weeks ago that I would try to find a typewriter. Now being an Anglophile I wanted one with a QWERTY layout. Most of the typewriters in Belgium have an AZERTY set of keys, so I decided I would look for one online, but have been too busy traveling to do so.

Friday I was in France. In a rural area close to Paris. There was a brocante nearby so I decided to check it out. The French, like the Belgians, use an AZERTY keyboard. You can imagine my surprise when I came across a vintage portable typewriter with a QWERTY set of keys. And in my favourite colour, orange, to boot! I snapped it up immediately, and though it needs a good clean, it is in excellent condition.

Things continued to get stranger. We returned to Belgium on Friday evening. On arriving home, we started to plan the weekend. My daughter asked me to give her a lift to a town about 40 km from home. Since I did not have much to do I agreed and off we went. After I dropped her off I noticed a thrift store a couple of doors down and decided to pop in. At the bottom of a box full of office item I noticed a yellow box which simply stated ribbon. I opened it and found an unused typewriter ribbon still sealed in its plastic packaging.

When I got home I found it matched the worn out ribbon in my new typewriter perfectly. Now if that isn’t a stroke of luck, I don’t know what is.

I think I will stop here but please check back tomorrow for some equally good news.