December was rife with examples of grace in my little world. I saw antagonists mend fences, hearts soften, and kindness prevail. It was great! But it wasn't until yesterday I realized I needed to expect more of than on an ongoing basis, not just be happily surprised to see good stuff happening.The occurrence that triggered this realization concerns a trip I'm taking folks on in 10 days. It's a walk-in-the-footsteps-of-the-characters trip, the characters being from the 1920s Tea Cozy Mysteries series set in Northern California. When I wrote to confirm the final number of guests we'd have at tea in Oakland CA at the end of our trip, I was informed by the heartbroken tearoom owner that they'd just decided they would be closing their doors, and thus not able to serve our group.
After my sorrow for the owners subsided (having had to close my own beloved restaurant once upon a time) I snapped into action to find a substitute location. Easier said than done, it turns out. I was unable to find a tea place that would be open on the holiday, and the one I did find was problematically far away. I informed the trip guests, and the whole end of the trip started to fall apart with people deciding to go off on their own and forgo the last leg of the journey—not the send-off I'd envisioned for the end-of-the-book-series final hoorah.
Through an unexpected and unusual source, I came across the historic Cohen-Bray House pictured here. They are a volunteer-run organization, and miraculously, they agreed to host our group for tea and give us a tour! We'll be dining at one large table in the formal 19th-century dining room and toast our time together in a manner befitting the occasion.
This is the sort of wonderful outcome I want to learn to expect more of, not just be floored that something good happened. Every day I see and learn more of the goodness in people and the world. It's there if you look for it. I intend to look for it more diligently.
