I had my eye on a stunning outfit in my favourite boutique in town. I plucked up courage to enter and try it on, and yes it fitted, yes it suited me, and yes I had an occasion to wear it for the first time. The only problem was the price. I couldn't afford it. Two weeks later I had explored every other shop in town, and found nothing remotely suitable for my big occasion. I was en route to collect dry cleaning and buy meat for the dog, when I espied a sale on in my favourite boutique. The central outfit in the window was MY outfit, and yes, I could so afford it now! This was serendipity in her shy, violet mood.

I met my closest friend at a local history meeting. We were seated on hard uncomfortable chairs, listening to a talk about the town, and watching slides and a home movie taken many years previously. It was fascinating stuff, mentally superimposing modern buildings and landmarks on the sites of yesteryear. Suddenly there was a clatter just in front of me and a large pair of spectacles fell to the floor straight off the nose of their wearer. The noise jerked her awake. Clearly she didn't know exactly where she was, and was embarrassed. I sensed she was about to retrieve her glasses and bolt for the door. I reached for them, and held on to her shoulder while I returned them to her. "It's all right, they're not damaged at all," I said, as if this might be her only concern. She smiled and was able to ignore the frosty looks from either side of her.

After the meeting we chatted, and she divulged that she had returned from Canada earlier that day, was severely jet-lagged, but although too tired to do justice to the meeting, was determined to come. I invited her for a coffee the next day, and we subsequently discovered that our two older children went to the same nursery school, and we both had had a baby born ten days apart. How rare that we met each other, for ourselves, and not through our children, although they are all friends too. This was the golden yellow of serendipity at work, and we have been friends ever since.

Sometimes, it is the place we are headed for which is not all it seems. This is serendipity in her vast green mood, not unlike the children's game played at parties, when an object is hidden and children take turns to find it. "How green you are" is whispered when the seeker is far away, but "HOW GREEN YOU ARE" is shouted as the child practically falls over the treasure.