On Chance Encounters
/Saturday 6th August, 2011
Sydney, NSW
Kingsford Smith International Airport, Montreux Jazz Café
The ritual before take-off
“Thank you. One sugar, please…”
“So where are you off too then?”
“Europe… Bucharest.”
“Business or pleasure?”
“Neither…”
“What else is there?” The young waitress asks.
“The great abyss,” I reply.
We both laugh for different reasons.
The young waitress dressed in black from head to toe with a striking gold breastpin of a frog with red glass eyes, retreats and moves speedily back into her own world. And I weep in secretum, reflecting on the infallible revelation of how quickly all things must come to pass.
Source: MG Michael Family Archives
Tuesday 16th August, 2011
Bucharest, Romania
Readers Cafe
Another of those wonderful chance encounters
“I have been watching you write.”
“Yes, it helps.”
“Can I ask what about?”
“I am not sure, probably about climbing mountains. That’s close enough.”
“Are you a monk or something? You look like a monk.”
“No, once, a long time ago, but it is a little complicated.”
“I’m Susanna. My friends call me Vagvadini.”
“I’m Michael. My friends used to call me Jeremiah.”
Remember these conversations my heart to prize them deeply for when you get lost in the years ahead. Precious landmarks along the way. They are not pretend colloquies which bring sickness to the soul.