Unlikely events can result from seemingly trivial occurrences — There is a Japanese proverb, 風が吹けば桶屋が儲かる, Kaze ga fukeba, okeya ga moukaru, which means, “When the wind blows, the barrel-makers profit.” When I first heard that one, I was stumped. What could it mean? As unlikely as that sounds, the story goes like this: The blowing wind stirs up clouds…
