If This Were A Sign, What Would It Mean?

Before I get started, I need to give credit for the above title to Sally Felt. She and I took an online website design class together, part of which had all the students looking at each others shiny new web pages. In her class post, she mentioned this is a game she plays to help get her creative juices flowing. I loved the idea of it and have kicked it around in my head ever since she mentioned it.

This spring and summer, I’ve really been asking the question a lot lately and all because of feathers. That’s right, I said feathers. For some reason, since winter ended, I have been seeing an unusual amount of bird feathers. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep count of how many. I wish I had but, trust me, it’s been a lot. I see them everywhere – on my deck, on my lawn, on my windshield, on the street. There have been a few in the parking lot at the library, and there was even one just inside the entrance to the supermarket. I picked up a beautiful brown and white one a few weeks ago. I am assuming it is a hawk’s feather, and it now resides in my desktop pencil holder. My dog, Spike, was snuffling around the edge of the yard the other day and came up with a pretty little white one stuck to his nose.

But mostly they’ve been large black ones, which makes it all sort of spooky. And thus what has really prompted me into asking if this were a sign, what would it mean? Having spent many an hour during my formative years reading Stephen King novels, you can guess what kind of path my mind is wandering. Just what are those crows up to? Are they leaving each other signals? I recently saw a Nature episode on PBS demonstrating how intelligent crows are, complete with problem solving skills, so the prospect of them leaving feathers around for a purpose does not seem too far-fetched to me. Perhaps they are letting each other know where the next meeting of the revolution will be held (can you say Hitchcock?).

Does this look like an innocent grouping of feathers to you? I think not!

So I put it to you. Share your creativity and tell me what you think the feathers mean. Or maybe you’ve got some signs of your own to share. Either way, let’s figure out what they mean before the crows take over the world…..

It’s Puppy Love!

Meet my new pal, Spike. He’s a two year old “morkie,” meaning he’s half Yorkshire Terrier and half Maltese.  Spike used to live with one of my sisters, but she had to move recently and couldn’t keep him in the new apartment. So he has come to live with me and my husband. This works out so well because my sister can still see him, and she can rest easy knowing he’s in good hands. Not to mention that she knows I am going to spoil the heck out of him!

I can’t believe how head over heels in love with this little guy I am. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a dog (traveling for work made it impractical for many years) and I had almost forgotten how wonderful the unconditional love of a beloved canine is. He’s affectionate and cuddly, and he makes me smile every day.

Having said that, I also have to admit that it’s not all affection and cuddles. In addition to his friendly and loving personality, Spike is also quite the mischief maker. He  is wickedly smart, a master of stealth, and has pretty remarkable problem-solving skills. Small as he is, he tries very hard to figure out ways to get something he wants that’s out of his reach, and in a way that will not alert me or my husband to what he is up to. He is often successful. I’ll spare you the several stories of his secret agent-like talents, but I will tell you that if he had opposable thumbs, I’d be afraid to sleep at night.

But, really, it’s all good. Spike is a great addition to our little family. I may be dressing him up as a little devil come Halloween, but deep in my heart he’s my little angel. 🙂