Odd Happens

This week, something odd happened.

It was St. Patrick’s Day, but the night turned soggy. I was in NJ visiting, and I wanted to take some money out of the bank on our way to Trader Joe’s.

I put five $20s into my wallet, zipped it up, and got back into the car. We spent about half an hour in Trader’s and then proceeded to Shop Rite for a few more items.

As he was fighting with the self-check-out, I went to try my luck at the Lotto counter. I don’t play often, but when I’m in a different state, I play when the opportunity arises.

I walked up to the counter and asked for a Powerball and New Jersey Take Six ticket. I pulled out $20, and she gave me $15 back, which I shoved in my pocket with the tickets. I don’t believe in spending crazy amounts on the lottery, just enough to be in the game.

When we got back to the car, I went to put the $15 in my wallet with the other money but it was gone. I could not believe my eyes. I got out of the car without saying anything and followed my footsteps back into Shop Rite. If the money fell out, it would be somewhere on the ground. It was dark, misty with rain, and not many people were out. It could not have scattered that far. But there was no money on the ground.

I got back to the counter and asked the attendant if I had left any money, but I already knew the answer. I didn’t. I pulled out one $20 only. The entrance to the supermarket was maybe 3 feet from the front door, and there were no scattered $20’s around there either.

I walked back to the car with my head down, looking but knowing the money wasn’t going to be found on the wet pavement of a supermarket parking lot.

I wasn’t mad; I was dumbfounded. How did $80 disappear from my purse just like that? It wasn’t in the car between the seats or under the rugs. It was nowhere.

It wasn't lost inside Trader Joe’s. I did not open my wallet there at all. I wasn’t buying.

I didn’t get upset. If I’m honest, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me. The first couple of times, yeah, I did blow a gasket. But now? I just shake my head.

It’s one of the reasons I don’t like to carry money. Every so often, money will escape my grasp. I will put it in one place, and when I go back, it’s not there. I refuse to believe I’m that careless. I’m not. Anyone who knows me will tell you how organized I can be.

When these things happen, though, I either rationalize that someone needed it more than I did or that Spirit is trying to get my attention.

I say this because when I finally came home from NJ, I opened some of my packages and put the items away. I purchased a pair of pale pink and off-white lightweight jeans for the summer. The jeans came in individual clear plastic bags, and after I tried them on, I put them back into their respective bags and put them in my dresser.

The next day, when I opened my dresser, the white jeans were not there.

I can’t make this up. They were not there. I took everything out, checked other places I may have put them, but I am certain, like the sun rises in the morning, both those jeans went in the same drawer. I remember pushing the plastic down with my hands before closing it.

Spirit is obviously trying to get my attention because this is inexplicable.

Maybe it is because I’ve been thinking about how magic works, or if it is real? Maybe the posts in my feed about hoodoo and connecting with our ancestors are meant for me.

I don’t know.

I am back to meditating and embracing silence to find out what I need to pay attention to in this upcoming season.

I’ve been neglecting my practices of late, but now it’s time to hone in. Time to lift my head to see what’s in front of me. Maybe add a new practice as well.

All I know is something is happening, and my curiosity is piqued.