A Lucky Lucky Leap Day

I have a particular good-luck charm. If I start my day by running into someone I went to high school with, I have a wonderful, perfect day. Doors open, worlds collide, I get the best tables in the best restaurants, flower merchants give me an extra daisy just for smiling, and the sun shines.

Today looked like it might be unlucky. I didn't have any clean, matching socks. The clean underwear options were equally dire. I forgot my lunch. My Metro train was being driven by some sort of batty old man who kept slamming the brakes. I was running late, crabby and in a hurry.

Then it all changed: I heard my name, turned around, and there was an old friend waiting for me. Back in Woodbridge, I used to give him a ride home from school, and on the way we'd stop at Taco Bell. We'd joke that you can only eat something as nasty as Taco Bell with someone you trust. We lost track of each other after graduation.

And then, today, I ran into him. He works just down the street from my office. The sun is out, my office has that post-crunch time teamwork glow, and it's Friday. My NewsHour segment aired last night ("Babies Having Babies" --- I didn't see it, and if I'm in that, I really hope none of my relatives see). And it's a Leap Year. So by the end of today, I'll either win the lottery or get hit by a falling satellite.

Either way, I can't wait to see what happens next.