One Friday afternoon I set out determined to get a housewarming present for a friend. She was having a small party and gifts were optional but if anyone did bring them there was a limit of $10. I was going to wander in and out of stores in downtown Sebastopol to see what I could find for under ten bucks.
After walking out of one place - realizing the only thing under ten dollars had been cards and not even all of them - I saw a guy I used to go out with going into the Sebastopol Cookie Company. Not really wanting to be held hostage listening to him recap nearly every aspect of his life since we had seen each other last, I quickly turned around and headed in the other direction. After visiting four shops and only finding one thing I liked (which was way over the limit) I sat down on a bench to contemplate whether I should make the trek all the way to Santa Rosa for more options. The person sitting next to me asked if I was from this area and I said yes. Usually when people ask this they want restaurant recommendations, which I am glad to give.
"I really like this town," he said. "Nice energy here. I have a lot of past life visuals that come to me whenever I pass through here."
Okay. Nice segue into ...?
He mused about living in Persia in the middle ages and how he always remembers this particular past life experience when he comes to Sebastopol. He was living in a village, there was a temple, something about Persian dancers.
A woman ran by us and knocked on the door of a small shop but it was closed and nobody answered. She flipped around. "I am having an incense emergency!" she announced. "I can't find any and I really need some!"
I started to ask what an incense emergency entailed but she was so serious I sensed it was not the moment to make light of this situation. "What places around here sell incense?" she wanted to know.
"What places don't sell it?" I quipped, not entirely joking. I've seen nag champa at 7-11.
She managed a frazzled I-don't-have-time-to-find-any-humor-in-this laugh. "Maybe Siri knows where to find it around here." She whipped out her phone.
I told her three places to go, guaranteeing she would find incense in at least one of them if not all three. Thanking me she hurried off. I did not ever discover why it was an emergency.
My bench partner launched back into his account of his past life memories. A winter celebration of people dancing in the Persian temple. By then I conceded to myself it wouldn't have been so bad to run into my old boyfriend. Although it occurred to me I could purchase a large box of incense for under $10.
Favorite line of the week:
"A body builder? Around here? Well, maybe if you wanted a vegan body builder, there might be one in Sebastopol."
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