friday five: random

At RevGals Revkjarla writes:

I don't know about you, but my life seems to have a lot of random surprises lately.  Just little things,

like the doggy in the picture, who was rescued by a Good Samaritan from running into traffic, who then brought him to the police, who brought him to my neighbor's house.  I took the doggy, now named Scout, to the vet on Monday, and the woman behind the desk said, "This dog looks so familiar.  Were you here last week?"  I told her no, that this particular dog is a stray, and she looked at me, and said (use your best Boston accent here), "Oh my GAWD!  I rescued that dog on Satuhday!  I took him to the police!" and then she proceeded to tell me the story.  She was Scout's angel.    

Random, right? 

So, for our Friday Five, I invite you share five random things about you, or five random thoughts, or five random surprises in your life. 

Just be random!

I started out with some small world stuff but quickly realized that they probably only seem fascinating to me...

1)  I wrap presents without tape and my bows don't have knots. I learned this from my mother, who learned it from her mother. Now my daughter and daughter-in-law want to know how to work such magic. Glad there will be at least one legacy by which to be remembered!

2)  In spite of the fact that I'm not a jock and I hate to sweat I graduated from college as a phys. ed. major.  My conversion came about when I checked a book out of the library the summer after my sophomore year called Winning is Everything and Other American Myths, which is a collection of essays on sport sociology. Who knew there was such a discipline? The clincher came when what I was learning in my Kinesiology and Anatomy of Human Movement classes became applicable as a gymnastics coach. That was one of the most exciting periods of my college experience.

3)  I play the recorder. It's been years since mine has seen the light of day or ear heard its sweet song. My brother and I used to play duets with some regularity, and once upon a time I played as a member of the "Cathedral Consort" when I lived in Hartford. It was wonderful discipline to be part of that group and they were forgiving when I had a tough time on the high notes. I also got introduced to some great music as a result. Gosh, thinking back to that time brings a smile to my face...

4)  I learned about a woman who celebrated her 38th birthday by doing 38 random acts of kindness for people. It'll probably take some doing (not to mention some time) to do as many raks as years I will have to celebrate on my next birthday, but I've already got some ideas about some things I might do. I'm open to suggestions on this, by the way. On facebook there's a page called The Birthday Project that is about the same kind of thing.

5)  I have an extra vertebrae in the coccygeal area of my spine. This might contribute to my "long rise."