Not wishing but scheduling makes it so

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I missed this year's lilac event at the Ewing Lilac Arboretum and Children's Forest. But it was on my calendar.

“They are having a celebration there tomorrow, so they have to be okay,” said the woman who answered the phone at the Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department.

Hmmm.

My first reaction was to laugh at her, but I decided to work on my people skills and respond, “Okay,” and be done with her. However, my people skills need further work since I withheld my usual, “Thank you,” as a mild punishment for her bizarre answer.

I’m pretty certain that nature doesn’t give a darn when humans schedule events on their calendars. This is true — from the tulips in Pella to the spectacular lilacs at Ewing Park in Des Moines. Man proposes, but God disposes.

I didn’t tell her that I was there just yesterday and saw a sea of green—not the sea of purple that I love. I was pretty sure that somehow I’d missed the wonderful lilacs in bloom but was calling just to make sure I wasn’t somehow too early rather than too late.

I’m not attending Ewing Park’s event on May 7. I hope she informs the hundreds of lilac bushes are not performing on cue. Or maybe I’m underestimating their ability to perform exactly on cue.

Fortunately, I can share some photos from last year’s trip, and I make a commitment to be much more vigilant in 2017.

I wonder, though, if the woman’s logic permeates all areas of her life? The bills surely have been paid, because they were due today. Dinner must be on the table since we’re all hungry. If only scheduling it would make it happen.

If that’s true, I have a date with Kevin Costner on Saturday, a chat with President Obama on Wednesday and lunch with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on Friday. I know because it’s on my calendar.

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