Full circles or intertwining weeds.

Whenever I run across someone I know from a previous part of my life, or someone my parents or close friends know, I am instantly torn between the thoughts of this being life presenting itself in a series of circles, ever overlapping and moving us forward to the intersections we make with others that we've overlapped with in the past. Or, we are all viney weeds growing in a dark spot that are clinging together as we reach up into the sunlight. I can't decide which visual metaphor works the best, but sometimes it's both - like weeds climbing up a chain link face.


So yes: All that was for a reason. My boss spoke at a meeting today for the waterways users group for the Columbia River - all the ports, shipping companies, and boat captains - and it was one of those times where the group is so big (60 or so people) that you are happy they aren't trying to get into your office, so you go to them. Anyway, David did a good job in a smart, folksy way, and was one point with all the issues. The guy he's talking to is Walt, who happens to be an old friend (chain link) and colleague (weed) of my parents when they lived here in DC in the 1970s. I have run into about 15 different people who know me through my parents, which I think is a different kind of cool, but cool none the less. They see who made the circle and planted the weed.