Serendipity

This week I returned from a vacation to Washington state, centered around the delightful community of Anacortes. The main reason for my trip was attending the pirate wedding of a close friend who lives on a sailboat in Skyline Marina. It was great to visit Washington again, and see lots of new places, and many old friends who came to the wedding. And yes, it was just good to get away for a break after a crazy summer here in Colorado!

I love to travel, but in fact hadn't flown anywhere since 9/11; I moved back to Colorado in 2003 and have been living within driving distance of my family, and just haven't needed to travel by plane. After hearing so many stories about the nightmares of airline travel and delays and security hassles, I wasn't looking forward to that part of the trip. However, everything went smoothly and the trip was a pleasure from start to finish.

The most enjoyable aspect of travel for me has always been serendipity. There's a reason that I sometimes use the signature line "Not all who wander are lost."  I'm a blue highways kind of person and I love the unexpected discoveries and delights that come my way when I'm not looking for them. (If you're a person who loves wandering and exploring the back highways you'll love Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon and Feasting on Asphalt with Alton Brown).

These unexpected connections and discoveries have also been an integral part of my business as I've found valuable resources, colleagues, and even clients in places where you'd never look.

This trip to Washington lived up to my expectations as we explored the San Juan Islands and the nearby mainland. But the most unexpected event on the trip was having a new variety of dahlia named after me! The beautiful peach dahlia in the photo is the 'Gianna' (the name my Italian friends call me), and from now on will be one of the varieties that visitors to Jay Beane's dahlia growing site on Hwy 11 can order for shipment. On our way to Bellingham, we passed by acres of dahlias in every imaginable color and stopped to take photos. The owner (Jay) happened to be there, and my friend Karen and I wandered the rows and soon started making lists of the varieties we wanted to order. But I kept coming back to the peach dahlia that was a new hybrid not yet named. I guess Mr. Beane recognized a kindred spirit, because he suddenly gave me the chance to name it.

Maybe you have to be a gardener to understand my excitement about this. If you're the kind of person who can go weak in the knees at the sight of a well-tended garden or the feel of rich compost, then there's no further explanation needed!

Comments

[Antonette Artiz]

Wow, Jan, how cool! I'm not a gardener, and yet I can still imagine your thrill. So, then you named the dahlia - Gianna? Sorry it took me a minute to get it!

And, just for the record, I LOVE Alton Brown. I now make the best Egg Nog in the world because of him. Feasting on Asphalt is great too!

xoxo, AA