20201231 WAS IT SYNCHRONICITY? 
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Recently, I met a man who had sailed up from Tassie in his 10 
metre sailboat. It was quite a stormy day on Port Phillip Bay. I 
wasn't sure if the vessel was in trouble or not as it heaved and 
swayed off shore about 100 metres. It was just beyond the 
breakers. So, as I walked down the beach back from my dentist's 
appointment a couple of suburbs to the north, I watched for signs 
of trouble.

As I drew closer, I noticed a kayak come off the the leeward side. 
The wave action was fierce and I wondered if the little craft 
would make it to shore. Twice it looked like the end had come for 
the intrepid kayaker. By the time he had reached the shore, I had 
joined him and was able to help him draw his gear between some 
beach huts out of the wind.

There we talked as he pulled on his shore gear and secured the 
rest of his kit. He was heading off to spend the night with an old 
friend. But, his continued looking out to his beloved craft made 
me wonder how happy his reunion would be. In that moment, I knew 
there was a reason I was on that wind swept beach just at that 
time.

Having spent seven years in the Navy, I had committed myself to 
rendering assistance if I could. It's the law of the sea. I 
suggested that he inform the local cop shop about his having 
moored off of the beach so that they did not think he was in 
distress. Then, I said I would come down and check on the 
<<Songbird>> regularly until he returned at noon the next day. We 
exchanged mobile numbers and he was on his way.

Later that day, a friend stopped by to let me know that a sailboat 
was lying off the beach in the swell with no one in sight. We 
remarked on the fact that two us had made the observation on an 
otherwise wholly deserted beach. By evening the rain had abated 
and a cresent moon broadcast its diminished rays across the bay. 
They were just enough for me to use my binoculars to check whether 
the <<Songbird>> was still secure on her anchor and unboarded. All 
was well and her lights were lit at each watch.

In the morning, an acquaintance whose house faced the beach 
remarked on the sailboat as we watch her gracefully turn to and 
fro in the gentle breeze. He too had watched through the night and 
observed the dancing lights. He was once an electrician, but is 
now retired as I am. We have each lost our canine companions 
recently and we commisterated with one another in the morning 
calm.

At eleven, John called. He had returned and was chuffed that he 
had been getting updates throughout his absence. He had been able 
to truly enjoy his time with his old companion. The daughter of 
his friend suggested a box of chocolates was in order and my wife 
and I have enjoyed them over the holidays. But, John and I both 
knew that no thanks were really necessary. There is a code.

Before he rowed back out to the <<Songbird>>, John and I enjoyed a 
cuppa together at the beach cafe. We talked at leisure of our past 
lives and present undertakings. We are both of an age when the 
future is considerably foreshortened for us. The past and the 
present fill our thoughts. Ambition for the future has dimmed.

As he moved off from his old mooring, John sent a text message and 
picture to remember him by. He commented again on the fact that 
someone had been there on the beach when he needed them to be. 
Yesterday, while I was installing OpenBSD 6.8 on one of my old 
computers, I was thinking of John and his plans to be under sail 
for most of the summer.

Just then, my phone pinged and I found a text and picture from 
John showing that he was underway to another mooring on the bay. 
Weird. A person whom I had never met now seemed linked to me by 
some strange connection. And, the link was not merely with me. 
Others were also tied to the event. Serendipity? Synchronicity? 
I'm not sure. It's something though.

But let me note one more thing. I discovered and joined The Soviet 
on the 27th of December. Chapter One of the <<Schismatrix>> begins 
on that same day.

Happy New Year!

D+