Due no doubt to the high levels of dopamine in my brain, I happen to believe in the possibility of meaningful coincidence. With that assertion I now offer for your perusal the following, edited and adapted for this space from an e-mail I sent to Sarah (currently in the UK on business):

I have recently been musing over a potential narrative (i.e. story) inspired by vignettes I wrote for my blog. For the last few days I have been working through the vague ideas and characters, attempting to get a clear picture in mind regarding the world, or "reality", in which the story will unfold. I had in mind a kind of magical-realist landscape dominated by trees and wonder. One notion I was considering for entrance to this "world" involved a tree or trees acting a portals.

Now consider these facts:

1.We saw a bit on the Travel Channel the other night featuring a pub in Australia(?) that was built in the trunk of a 5,000 year old tree.

2. Last night (9/7/02) I finally cleared the 3-D Jong board (a variation of electronic Mah Jong) I have been trying to complete for the last week and received for my efforts the following "prize" in the form of text which popped up when I cleared the board:

"Congratulations!! You've just one (sic) a vacation to Arbor, a world taken up by the Universe's largest tree. Explore the thousands of miles of branches. Meet the many denizens of the hollowed out trunks of the tree. Pick from its large variety of fresh fruits and nuts. Of course you'll be staying in a tree house with its own five star restaurant. Your room will have a gorgeous view of the Tree's most picturesque branches. Come during Arbor's fall season and see the Tree's leaves turn into beautiful autumn colors."

Could these strange tree references popping up in the "Objective" world be in response to my own thoughts about magical trees (ala Jacques Vallee's "referential database" universe model)? Is the universe trying to nudge me in the direction I was considering already? I don't know but each of the examples above did actually help me to see the way the narrative will begin and where it will take place (although I am still lacking a name!).

Meaningful? Coincidence? Meaningful Coincidence? Make of it what you will.