The Mystery of Palms and Pomegranates

In them will be Fruits,
And dates and pomegranates.

From The Holy Qur'an, Sura 55 (Rahman), verse no. 68

I was poking around our local used bookstore. I found two photo books circa 1971 of Venice and Rome. Knowing that my heart is set on going to Italy in the fall, I had to bring them home with me so I could start scheming about my trip. I've decided Venice must be on the itinerary, but sadly, Rome may not (likely a distance and time decision). When I flipped to the back of the book on Rome, included with the map of Rome was a small booklet called, "Palms and Pomegranates: Traditional Dress of Saudi Arabia.". Hmmm? What?

I was just reading about the home of Catholicism and the dawn of our civilization, and here's palms and pomegranates.

I'm not sure how this book came to be in my book. But since I like to listen to the universe, I will ponder this for a little bit. Suspiciously, as far as we got into the book was the list of "sponsors" for this book. Names like Chevron, Exxon, Mobil, Xerox, Trans World Airlines, Coca-Cola, Boeing, Shell, Ford, General Dynamics, General Electric... The list goes on with more patrons and sponsors than pages in the book. We're envisioning a mystery with the cover of research for a heritage project of Saudi Arabia.

I am writing this without reading the book, but I will read it soon and continue...

....

Oh, the mystery. Remember my thoughts on boredom? I barely made it to page 17 of 31 and had to quit. I did scan the others to see if there was a great secret or mystery hidden in the pages, but unless there was a secret code, nothing was there. Just descriptions of traditional clothing of Saudi Arabia. Probably of interest to many individuals, but not me at the moment. Yes, the articles of clothing were beautiful, and functional for the environment, but what else? I feel like I have a lost little puppy that followed me home and I don't know what to do with him.

I will wait and see if the universe wants to link this to something else for me. Or does someone have something to share on the subject? I won't assume it is entirely random that this book came home with me, but I will shelf further thought on this for now.