Santa Cruz, CA: I did something this morning that I haven’t done in a while – I got up early to watch the sunrise. I drove to the lighthouse where I first learned to universe surf six years ago. Even though seven million people are sheltering in place around me, you wouldn’t know it by walking along West Cliff right now. It feels very much like the old universe I still remember where people are doing their same daily tasks and getting ready for the day. I see a couple with a baby in a stroller. The church bells are ringing. The surf is crashing against the shore. Runners are getting in their morning run before they go over the hill to work – except they most likely won’t be going to work today.
I’m amused at how the Universe is such a trickster. Yesterday, I went to top off my car with gas. The cash price was cheaper, and so I asked my partner if she had cash. She gave me $12.25 for a $12.04 bill. I asked her if she had a nickel. She looked and looked in her purse and didn’t have any more change – only the quarter. So I went to the cash register with the feeling of wanting to hold on to the quarter. When I offered the $12, the attendant said that was good as he reached his hand into an empty penny-saver tray and pulled out 4 imaginary pennies. I kept the quarter in my hand and returned to my car. There were a few used disinfecting wipes to throw away, so I grabbed those and put those in the garbage. I noticed I was about to throw my quarter away! As I pulled it out, I noticed it was now a nickel!! I showed it to my partner and asked “Did you give me a quarter or a nickel?”.
“I gave you a quarter”, she replied as she quickly took the nickel and threw it back into her purse after noticing it was a nickel.
“Wait, let me see that again”, I requested. She dug threw her purse and finally found the coin. It was now a quarter again – although it looked like a different quarter to me with lots of crumbs on it.
I meant to go through her purse when we returned home, but forgot. I actually don’t have an explanation for what happened. My only clue is when I returned home, I felt in my pocket and pulled out a quarter. It was like the Universe knew it had flubbed up and needed to give me a reason to be able to rationalize what had happened.
The synchronistic part of this story is how a day earlier I was telling my new housemates about my grandfather’s experience during the Great Depression. My grandfather told me that when he lost a nickel, he would get physically sick because money was that precious. I wonder if the Universe was letting me feel that yesterday – which I definitely did.
We now live in a world that operates on a currency that is no longer backed by gold. Dollars are not worth an ounce of Silver anymore. They are only worth another paper dollar. And, if toilet paper continues to be in short supply, you may not even be able to get paper dollars soon – only digital.
surfing the universe 
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