Destiny Day

My trailblazing, mountain climbing daughter has returned—she got within 2400 feet of the summit on Mt. Ranier and had to opt out of climbing the summit because her knee was not capable of going any further. After a successful 92 mile hike on the Wonderland Trail, not reaching the summit on this first attempt was her destiny, and she was wise in making her choice. The mountain will still be there next year!
Yesterday was destiny day for quite a few of us—as I met 2 wonderful women at the 10:30 round table session on Innovative Research Methodologies (I’m at the ASA conference in Atlanta). At the table were Marianne and Karla, both dynamic young women who reported on two very different but very interesting research studies! Marianne, whose research paper presentation was about aid workers fatalities, works for a think tank organization and travels all over the world! She had just flown in from Germany to attend the conference. Talk about a world class citizen! Karla is also international—she is Colombian and married to a Russian. Although she’s a statistician, her doctoral research work is a qualitative study based on the dynamism of food and our intimacy with food. Karla is interested in food because she, through personal experience, has found that our processes foods can make you seriously sick and compromise your immune system. Since Karla ‘s research is about food and people’s relationship to food, she suggestion we go out to lunch at a place where the food “is touched by human hands.” That’s how we had the most divine meal touched by human hands at La Pietra Cucina in Peachtree Center! We ordered the Prosciutto di Parma appetizer, and then shared the Black Spaghetti, Gabby’s Fettucini, and Mezze Penne al Pomodoro for the entrée. Our wine was Enzo Di Sotte Rue Primitivo 2008, which was a soft, light red – the perfect complement to our meal! After lunch we searched for Karla’s favorite dessert place, a little donut place where all the donuts are personally made by the owner, a CIA educated turned donut shop owner, but given that this was a Monday, the little donut place was closed. It was now time for Karla to pick up her kids from school, and for Marianne and I to tour the textbook exhibit and part ways, as so many strangers do when they meet in a strange place and bond over a meal. As Marianne said, “We were destined to meet today,” hence this was our Destiny Day. There’s something about having a meal with people you’ve just met that forges immediate bonds! Good people, good food, good wine, good time and sharing our adventures with strangers. Destiny.