August 7, 2015
(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every
day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)
As
a kid, I used to like cracker jacks because at the bottom of the box there was
always a surprise. It didn’t matter that it was a cheap toy probably worth less than a penny. I like fortune cookies, too, because of the surprise message. Several
years ago, a friend of mine took fortune cookie joy a step further when, at our
daughter’s wedding reception, she opened every fortune cookie in a bowl, left
the crumbs and took all the fortunes. I think she kept going for it with the
hope that she would get one perfectly suited for her.
Some
fortunes I get are ordinary and I accept it with disappointment, but my fortune
today at the Szechuan Café was a most interesting one: “You
may attend a party where strange customs prevail.”
Hmmm.
This fortune I like! I have an affinity for strange.
All my life, I’ve gravitated toward new experiences and people who are unlike
me. I especially like the phrase strange customs,
which suggests that I might be traveling in another country.
This
reminds me of a trip to Germany in 2009 where we were welcomed at the home of
our hosts in Rosbach and soon departed for a party with them. At the party
house, we were greeted with a pile of broken dishes in the driveway. They
explained to us that it was a polterabend party, a German wedding tradition
where guests to the party bring old ceramic and porcelain stuff (sometimes even old toilets) and smash
them to wish the couple good luck and chase away bad spirits.
My gift today is a fun fortune.
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Read
about the polterabend:
You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
Now, now , there is a slight exaggeration here! I didn't open all of the cookies in that bowl. Maybe about 40 or so, but definitely a few left for other guests. I've been dreaming about that huge bowl ever since.
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