there i was on the sidewalk, having a conversation with a guy i started by yelling across the street. it was one of those flashes, where i'm driving by and we notice each other so quickly in the moment when time doesn't know it's merely passing, and we smiled and both said hi, despite the fact that he was on foot and i was in my car. i saw ahead and knew without a doubt that i would park my car, and he and i would have a conversation. sure enough, when i got out of the car, his dog stopped and stared at me, and thus began a conversation standing on opposite sides of the street.

somewhere in the middle, as the sun was setting and he had walked across the street to talk in normal voices, we touched on the topic of fate. we spoke of it intellectually, never addressing the fact that this was one of those meetings in life that felt fated. he told me if i'm ever back in the neighborhood to find him. i knew he wasn't sure what was happening, that he was open to seeing me again, but that he wasn't available, thus the veiled suggestion. i told him realistically there was little chance of being able to randomly find him. but then i told him that it's not impossible. i explained my theory about if i dropped my keys in the ocean and found them again years later on distant shores, i would have my answer. i would believe i have proof of god and universe. he asked me what i would do when i find my keys. "just throw them away?" he asked. he had a way of posing his questions as hypotheses for me to affirm or refute. i was honest. i told him i didn't know. i only knew their symbolic value.

we stood there talking until the sky was dark, shivering in the cool night air. there was the usual awkwardness in saying goodbye. he told me again that he hoped to run into me again if i'm ever back in the neighborhood. i laughed, and he said, "you're right, it's not going to happen is it?" i said that life is strange, and that i believe that people can find each other if they really want to (i think about how this guy, jamie, took my phone number when we met, but i punched in the wrong number. he said he tried various combinations, and managed to reach me. so, anything is possible). "i'm easy to find," i said. "anyone can find me if they really wanted to." we parted on, "until next time if it's meant to be." it was a pleasant encounter and connection.