#62 - What are the odds?

Tuesday, March 6

Today I am thankful for the interwebs.  Without the net, our move would be much more fraught with uncertainty and angst.  It's mostly to do with real estate.  Being able to do the research on our house in Beaverton and then to research the Hudson Valley makes our lives much easier.  We know what's available.  We knew before we came to interview that we could buy a house here.  Things were possible.  Without that source of information, I don't think we would be here.  We would have dismissed the opportunity out of hand.

My brother mentioned how strange it was to be sitting across from me on a normal day in a restaurant in Brooklyn.  Of all the places we both could be, we are both 3000 miles from where we grew up, but 80 miles from each other. We have both lived abroad for years at a time, both have careers that could take us anywhere in the world, but there we were.  Having a relaxing lunch at a little restaurant.  And my veggie kebab with hummus was nice, thank you.

Really, everyone's path through life is a study in impossible odds.  If my brother had not introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons, I never would have bought the oriental expansion pack.  And I would not have taken Japanese at the community college as a high schooler.  Then I would be much less likely to have served a mission in Japan.  Which means no high tech translation, no career at Nikon, and no career where I am now.

What are the odds?  Impossibly high.  High enough that despite the fact that I live here, I find it hard to believe.

The picture today was taken at about 9am from the Beacon station on the Hudson river railway line.  The Hudson is a big river.  But I learned that it is salt water as far North as Newburgh, since the retreating glaciers left the river bottom below sea level.  So it could actually be called Hudson Bay.  Except for that little place in Canada.