The Unexpected - and the Expected Tiger

A quote from a comment by Bungy 32 left on the Manachaeism post:

I am not a particularly religious person. My "faith" is amorphous at best and shifts traditions regularly. But I do believe in listening to the universe. Whether it's the universe talking or my (our) incessant need to find patterns in the random doesn't really matter. The messages come in odd places -- babbling brooks, burning bushes, breath, subway posters next to sidewalk cracks, and sometimes (why not?) a single moment in an otherwise not very good film

There are certainly things in ordinary life to take the breath away when one is not preoccupied, momentary gifts, glimpses, a sense of harmony, regardless of whether one believes the universe is addressing one in some purposeful way. I'm looking for things for next Monday relating to unexpected delights, if you post something about the grace notes of life's ordinary music, let me know in a comment and I'll link it.

As for the photo above, there's a clue in the joss sticks visible next to the plate of candies - the grate is outside a Vietnamese restaurant, the Year of the Tiger starts February 14.