only connect

Last night I was walking around town without the dog, because it was too hot for him, so when I saw the sign at the bookstore that said their science fiction bookgroup was reading Who Fears Death, I went in and asked whether it was an open bookgroup. Yes, said the clerk, and gave me a flyer with dates and times and their next three books:

July: Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
August: Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
September: God's War by Kameron Hurley

Hunh, I thought. I'm going to like these people.


Tonight my husband and I walked the dog down to the river. He mentioned that his girlfriend was in Texas. Visiting relatives, I asked?

Yes, and lighting fireworks, he said.

Fireworks, I thought. Texas. Ask her if she knows Don Webb, I said. Texas pyrotechnics community can't be that big.

She does! She's known him since she was five. Yes, he used to work on fireworks displays with her family.


I'm having a lot of déjà vu these days. It makes making connections feel really weird. Each time, I wonder: am I discovering this, or remembering it?