unexpected

I was sitting there in this cafe yesterday morning
having a bagel and coffee on my way in to work at the bike shop
a routine for me most mornings
usually involves the paper and a sudoku and some solitaire
and a tarot reading for myself

but on this day I had time only for the metro section and solitaire
no sudoku
did not even have my tarot deck with me
laying out the solitaire, calculation

this russian guy at a nearby table says something about reading his "future"
maybe he has seen me there with the tarot deck before
taken by surprise

I say, okay, let me finish this out
and everything falls into place in the calculation

so then we move to the empty table between us
and I shuffle seven times, to randomize the deck
hand the cards to him, tell him to mix them until he feels comfortable
he pulls seven cards without my asking him to
I take these and mix them once, start laying them out

five spades
this is about looking out for yourself, I say
something in your head

seven diamonds
a decision in the practical realm
you are waiting to see what happens

jack diamonds
a new project, connected with the seven

four clubs
a sense that you have already done something
a resting point

five diamonds
a sense of having been left out of something
together with the five spades, an idea of the way things "should" be

three spades
worrying something to death

ace pentacles
an opportunity

diamonds adding to thirteen, something you need to leave behind

something of an emphasis on seven
(the four and the three had been laid out of line with the other cards,
and there was the seven diamonds . . .)
the importance of making a decision

he said it seemed to make sense

the neat thing for me was
reading aloud without difficulty
probably because I had no opportunity to "prepare"

zb