Chance Encounters

While clearing brush in the front yard I picked up something that caused a rash. My arm is red and it itches. I happened to already have a clinic appointment this week so I asked them about the rash. They prescribed a cream, and messaged it to the pharmacy approved by my insurance company. It’s not the closest pharmacy to our house.

I like having a nearby pharmacy so anything health-related, not covered by insurance, I buy at the one in town if they have it. While there yesterday, I ran into a friend with whom I worked on the John Kerry for president campaign. As people do in a small town, we chatted outside the pharmacy for a while and talked about meeting for coffee next week.

When aging, chance meetings like this take on more meaning.

If I go to the wholesale club on a Monday morning, one of my fellow bloggers is usually there provisioning. When I walk on the trail, I encounter people from the neighborhood. When I visit the grocery store in the county seat I invariably see someone I know. With the isolation of aging comes a need to speak with other humans. I attempt to be brief and meaningful when I encounter someone in the wild.

Maintaining a single family dwelling is part of the reason for this. When Grandmother took a room at a women’s club in Davenport, it provided many socialization opportunities. When they later allowed men to reside there, some of the socialization was unwelcome. Decades of writing have formed my personality and I don’t mind being alone most of the time. Living alone frees me to explore what life presents where it leads… or not.

It took the coronavirus pandemic for me to realize that chance encounters happen and to recognize them as a thing. Now that I do, I relish each one as a way to reconnect with the broader society. I am becoming a master of polite conversation and embrace it. There is a life beyond the walls of a home and I need the connection to go on writing.

I don’t know when it will be, yet I look forward to my next chance encounter. I’m ready for it.