Saturday, August 8, 2009

Such a Small World: Exhibit A

Every once in awhile we think we are the only Yankees in this part of France, and of course,we are wrong. We're not the only Americans. No way. And what are the odds if you ran in to one of the other 300 million Americans, (not all of which are abroad on any given day) say somewhere in southern France, that they would know someone you know. Well, here is an example of the Small World Syndrome.

His name is Larry and he's from Vashon Island, Washington. For some reason, he chose to wear his "Isle of Vashon" t-shirt and attend an old car show in Limoux today. It was a little bit of a drive from where he is staying at a friend's place up around Carcassonne. Of course Nancy and I had felt compelled to drive over to Limoux today and see what the old car show was all about. (Larry, if he had seen our truck with Utah plates, might have wondered why there was a sticker that said "VSH" and below that, in tiny letters, "Vashon". ) And quite natually, Nancy and I noticed the t-shirt that said VASHON in all caps at about the same time. Nancy pipes up "Hey! I know people on Vashon". Had he been wearing some other t-shirt, we wouldn't have said a thing to him, because Larry was being very quiet and we hadn't picked up on the fact another yankee was in our midst.

In a very brief converstation we find he knows my sister, my late brother-in-law, nephew, niece, and the rest of the Oldham clan living on Vashon Island, Washington. What are the odds?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought I posted a comment the other day but it must not have taken. Larry is a great guy, he and his wife Nancy house sat for us when we fist lived on the island, I think that was the trip to Montana with Cooper. They fell in love with Vashon and had moved out here within a couple months. He loves old Peugeot as I recall. Big rumor here, speaking of the island is that Johny Depp has been seen twice on the island and is buying Tom Stewarts 525 acres. More later... Leslie

Anonymous said...

I thought I posted a comment the other day but it must not have taken. Larry is a great guy, he and his wife Nancy house sat for us when we fist lived on the island, I think that was the trip to Montana with Cooper. They fell in love with Vashon and had moved out here within a couple months. He loves old Peugeot as I recall. Big rumor here, speaking of the island is that Johny Depp has been seen twice on the island and is buying Tom Stewarts 525 acres. More later... Leslie

Anonymous said...

Great! now I've posted two.