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Have you ever had a time in your life where you notice all kinds of freaky and mysterious connections? I’ve had several and happen to be going through one such phase right now. Some people refer to these *serendipity* or merely *coincidences* for the non-believers. 

I’ve noticed that upticks in these serendipitous occurrences seem to coincide with times of great change. Sometimes these spooky (but awesome) things are quite large and significant, sometimes they’re seemingly insignificant but they never fail to raise goosebumps. 

I’ll be sharing a couple of them with you today. 

First off, I mentioned the chimney leak [in a blog about a week ago](https://hive.blog/story/@ericvancewalton/dont-lose-the-narrative). The contractor we hired to fix the leak erected scaffolding beside the chimney and one of the ratchet straps used to secure the scaffolding damaged some of our vinyl siding. 

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![Leak.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/ericvancewalton/23ywsZH4QHnX3ZPR6cY2XpFcGXQ4xh1CyiP6xs29vXkBnE66nvxBDxMyBK6EXd1UgJXmE.jpg)
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I had to get the siding manufacturer name and color from our homeowner’s association and something jumped out at me immediately. It was completely unrelated to the vinyl siding. As you can see from the photo below (if you can blow it up enough to actually read it), the stone used on the front of our house was Ohio limestone. Some of you might remember that I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. So this means there's a little bit of "home" on my new home. This one easily lands in the *coincidence* category. 

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![Ohio.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/ericvancewalton/23u6HwNLHAyawyG7ECSUuAxSizBMWYgVbsxAxtB4LRbm9yhk268iKjc6DFaA1zy7AY14D.jpg)
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<center> *Sorry this is so small.* </center>

## The P-IMPALA Incident ##

This next one is a tad more mysterious. 

As we were driving to the grocery store last night and I noticed something strange about the car in front of us. I’m an incurable car-freak so I can’t help but notice these things. Some very creative person of questionable taste glued a “P” in front of “Impala” to make the word “PIMPALA”. 

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![Pimp.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/ericvancewalton/Eos2FAkLuDE4HZooqyaDQ2EeBZ9rj2XYhDx4DZAK3CMGwEyi8vi217DZTMxaqQEGLay.jpg)
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Immediately after I stopped laughing I noticed his license plate—which I wish I would have snapped a picture of but I was too focused on getting PIMPALA in the frame. The license plate read, “GMT-054”. 

*What’s so weird about GMT-054 you ask?* 

Just a few hours before this Pimpala-incident happened I emailed a jeweler to check on the status of a [GMT wristwatch](https://www.watch-wiki.net/doku.php?id=gmt) that I've been on the waitlist for the last five years. 

I asked if there was any possible way they could source the watch for me in June in time for my 54th birthday (since I’ve been waiting five years). Spooky!  I’m going to take this as a sign from the universe that I’m going to get that watch. This is still giving me chills as I’m writing about it. 

## First Firing ##

<center> https://youtu.be/BOm27lPHVLo </center>


I did the inaugural firing of the new Ninja Woodfire grill last night. I started with something simple, chicken legs. They were on the grill for about thirty-five minutes but tasted like they were smoked for hours. Absolutely delicious. I can’t wait to put a brisket on this thing. I'm going to get a lot of use out of this grill. 

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![Chicken.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/ericvancewalton/23wMjBNd5KbEWedwjV32S345NhcCu6Y9fZL5sko2mv1xcB2b28QbpAafki4scJvBswzf4.jpg)
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Speaking of smoke. 

The wood pellet stove was installed and we lit it for the first time. This should keep our entire house toasty next fall/winter for about $2.50 a day. 

<center> https://youtube.com/shorts/KvfpRaFy60E?si=gH-IbGF4Dlc_R2W5 </center>

## Book Launch Update ##

I'm not going to lie, the book launch for my newest poetry collection [Poems from the Edge of the Apocalypse](https://www.amazon.com/Poems-Edge-Apocalypse-Collection-Poetry/dp/B0F7LZ28JK/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title?fbclid=IwY2xjawKdmqZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETF3S2ZUWTh3TjNzTEFES0hZAR43B1_mizGUiEwh_B-5f7jo4DgNTWXhqUx25i13hpw3g1ewNtobbKjDHwTEgg_aem_Vz7yR4M7oz6CqEjyykCFIA) was, honestly, a bit of a disappointment but I know what an uphill battle self-publishing can be. 

This definitely isn't my first rodeo. I'm hoping sales gather steam as as spring turns into summer. I'll remain optimistic. My main takeaway is this—it's never been more difficult to convince people to buy books, especially poetry.  

All for now. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

<center> (Photos and videos are original.)  </center>

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