Surprise

“That I exist is a perpetual surprise, which is life.”

- Rabindranath Tagore

When I went looking for a pithy quote about surprise, I only intended to use it to introduce two new patterns that I am in the process of writing up. And they are both complete surprises, having not been previously revealed. (Now how did THAT happen?)

But I ran across this thought by an Indian poet. I think it speaks to an essential truth of our existence.

We don't really know what we're doing.

Now I don't mean to say we are inept, just that we are clueless.

We think we know what our lives are about, but we don't.

We think we know what today will bring, but we don't.

We think we know ourselves, but we don't.

Ask anyone who has been through therapy.

DH once told me that he didn't see the point to talking about your life with a total stranger. I mean, they don't know you at all. How can they come up with answers about you?

Because we don't know anything for sure. And a fresh perspective can see things we can't.

Life is a constant surprise. And we must, like a beginning skier who winds up on a black diamond course with lots of moguls (bumps for you non-skiers) flex our knees and ride it out.

Either that or fall down. I do that a lot...

But even when we fall down, we learn. We reassess, reevaluate our options, make a new plan, and get back on our feet again.

And take off our skis and walk down, if need be. (I actually did this.)

But we keep moving, we make adjustments, we learn from our falls, and we go on.

We only see our small part of the picture. The view looks different from God's front porch.

All we can do is live into the surprises everyday.

All we can do is make the most of them.

All we can do is embrace the uncertainty.

Sometimes surprises are good; sometimes they're bad.

But always, they are a fact of life.

*****

This is Beryl: a new laceweight scarf I worked on at the lake. She is blocking a second time. First time I blocked, I discovered a decrease that I didn't catch every stitch on.

And you know what that means...

Run!

Had to frog back to where the problem was and re-knit.

The yarn is Dream In Color Baby in Chinatown Apple.the beads are Venetian glass from Murano. They are expensive, but by only using five on each end, you cut your expenses.

And this is Innisfrae: a set of gauntlets knit from Tosh Sock in Norway Spruce. I have wanted to try this yarn for a while and I had this really great leaf cable that I wanted to use on something.

And my hands were cold.

The picture doesn't do the stitch pattern justice. Will try to get better pics tonight.

Surprise!

Should have them written up by the end of the week...

Unless another surprise intervenes.