Out of the rain

I'm going to yoga again and it's great.  Just the limber up and calm down I need, with a healthy dose of sweat and spandex thrown in for good measure.  Tonight, I met Maria for a class - I always like going with Maria because we can roll our eyes together at the yogis going for crazy poses and appreciate the Zen of bits of advice - and afterwards we were going to sit and chat at a nearby coffee shop.  We were two strikes (three if you count the behind-construction-lines accidental detour) out when an old lady told us that the Starbucks just closed, and could she trouble us for a ride to the bus station? It's a good 20 minute walk and the sky is so gray there's sure to be a downpour any second.  How awful that my reaction to politely decline to help came in close second to my impulse to close my purse and mentally review everything in my car just in case she was trying to scam me.  The lady was 72 years old and clearly harmless, but I still conversationally quizzed her on the authenticity of her story on the walk back to my car.  Hail started about ten seconds after we got in the car (which barely started due to low fuel and had a backseat full of worthless clutter [3 pairs of shoes, paperwork, sweaty yoga gear, and ingredients for the taco salad I was going to make for the fiesta potluck we had at work today but didn't, to start] just in case she had some sort of weapon on her).  We drove the 10 blocks to the bus stop under bursts of hail and 'Oh Lord!'s from our new friend and received in return the blessing of 'everything we need for trusting and providing, Amen', and the reminder that little old ladies aren't out to get you and sometimes people just need a ride.