Now and again, I bet we all ask the powers
that be for “a sign”. Because signs
are so uniquely individual, appearing in all shapes and sizes, they may not
always be easily recognized or immediately understood; and yet we wait and search for something we can
apply an interpretation to, be it as obvious as a clap of thunder or as subtle
as a phrase uttered by a stranger while waiting in the line at Food Lion. Most of us recognize when a sign is being
sent.
Momma
was a “sign searcher”, by this I mean she most always knew exactly what she
wanted to do about something…then looked for a sign of affirmation to move
forward as she had already planned. I
used to tell her she was bending the rules…lookin’ for what she wanted to find.
We were like that sometimes, oil and water; neither
of us wavering from our own convictions for very long. We did call a truce now and again, yielding for
the sake of peace or company.
All differences we did both look to our
birds as messengers. Nothing was better
than finding a cardinal feather or a white feather of any kind. Momma used to say, “Cardinals appear when angels
are near”, and I didn’t doubt that for a moment. She was also fond of Robins and got concerned
when they arrived in winter. “They’re
too early!” she used to say, “a robin in winter is nothing but a fool who’s
lost their way.”
Robins for her, were harbingers of Spring,
and all the potential locked up in that promise of new beginnings. Last year she seemed to take a bit of comfort
when I told her about the new breed of Wintering Robins. They weren’t fools at all, I shared with
her. They’ve just adapted, they’ll do
okay.
“I guess that’s what life is all about,” she
said, Adapting. “I’ll throw out some hamburger
that kinda looks like worms.
All that being said, I took my Christmas
walk around the labyrinth this morning, taking some mental notes on all that I saw and
heard. I suppose I was calling on familiar
signs, looking for what I needed to see.
Yep, maybe I was cheating. But I wasn’t
disappointed. Along the way there were
birds feeding under a Crepe Myrtle tree.
There were no bright red “angel birds”, but as I got closer, I figured
out that the gathering consisted of a group of female cardinals, (which just
happen to be some of the best Momma birds around) along side of some “fools”. I had to stop for a minute to listen and
watch, seems I heard momma say, All’s
right with the world…as long as you can adapt.
Okay, I’ll work on that! Merry Christmas all.
