Of all the things I’ve experienced, this one is the most fascinating. The anniversary of my father’s passing was last month, September 20th. He died in 2011. For as long as I can remember, I have been carrying around 3 model ships which my father kept from his father’s store on McMillan, near the University of Cincinnati. It is now a taco place.

I wrote about this briefly in another essay but I wanted to dive deeper into some of the interesting synchronicities.

First, the most obvious is the electric motor. I will never open the package, but I would love to try that motor. As of this moment, I have 8 of my own motors. This is always in flux depending on the type of motor I want. And also if they break. Seeing the model had a motor was the coolest thing.

Then came the second visual synchronicity, which was the paddle wheel echoed by the Circuitdelic Laboratory Dharma Wheels. There are also some echos of the visuals from the box with some of the wheels I made to attach to my motors to diffuse laser light. Things were feeling a bit like the Film Poltergeist. Kinda weird.

The third synchronicity is the man, Fulton as an inventor. His name is found in many places around the world (Paris, Fulton County GA.) but he also received his share of ridicule. Some of his inventions were failures. I’m a hobbyist who “invented” a few devices for my music and art. I dug the association. So another cool synchronicity.

Finally there is the whole proximity piece. As I said, the store was on the corner of West Clifton and West McMillan. I lived on the same block two different times at 222 W. McMillan. I also lived just down the hill on West Clifton. It is where the band Penny Dreadful performed for the first time. In 1988, Penny Dreadful would play at the Plaza, just two blocks away.

All of these things came colliding together at the time I was honoring my father’s passing and paying tribute to him. I keep the model boat. It and some of my own constructions will be given to my son. Maybe he will see the model ship reach 100 years!

Disclaimer: The synchronicities and statistical anomalies I document here are personal observations of my own life. I’m sharing them as an observer of a pattern, not a guide for yours. These are my experiences, not advice, and your results—as they say—will definitely vary.