According to Wikipedia, “A coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances which have no apparent causal connection with each other. The perception of remarkable coincidences may lead to supernatural, occult, or paranormal claims.”

Last month, I experienced a number of striking coincidences in my life.

The seed for the first one was planted during a conversation with my sister, who is a middle-school librarian. We love talking books, especially kid lit.  Over the holidays, as we traded recommendations, she asked, “Oh, have you read any of the Spy School books?”
“No,” I said, “I’ve never heard of them.”
“They’re fun,” she said. “They run a bit young for middle school, but your fourth graders might really like them.”

A week or so later, I was at the library. What was that series that Ellen recommended? Oh, yeah, Spy School. (Note–it’s truly amazing that I even remembered this!) I wandered over to the library computer which appeared to be in sleep mode. I clicked and the screen came to life. Locating the search icon on the desktop, I clicked again and after a moment the search screen appeared…along with the name of the last book searched for: Spy School. Crazy coincidence, right!?!

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was browsing through Target’s Cartwheel coupons and saw one for Compound W. For some reason my mind went hurtling back about a decade, to a time we invested considerable money into that product.

“Hey, Kurt,” I called to my husband, “”Do you remember when you had all those warts on your hand that were so hard to get rid of?”

“Yeah,” he said, coming into the room. “That’s so weird that you ask. I think one of them might be coming back. I just noticed it yesterday.”

Ok, not quite as startling of a coincidence, but still!

Finally, that same day, I read Rebecca Herzog’s Poetry Friday post. She linked to a song called “Langtree’s Lament.” I listened to it and thought it would appeal to my daughter, Addie, who lives in Philadelphia and who’s recently bought a ukulele. So, I sent her the link.

I mean, really, what are the odds?

So, what does it all mean? Are there supernatural, occult or paranormal forces at hand? I don’t know, but I’m wondering. And I’m keeping my eye out for wart-handed spies strumming ukuleles and singing encoded songs. But perhaps the message is more subtle…

PS Langtree’s Lament is well worth listening if you have a few minutes to spare.