An Omen?

Or two, or three? 

You bet!

I had an off day yesterday. No … I don’t mean because this is Spring Break and I was off work. I mean that I was mentally and physically off kilter. (What does 'kilter' really mean? I feel a Toad Moment coming on.) So this morning and on my morning constitutional I vowed that I would take my own advice, keep my senses open, and look for a moment. Because it was early and the sun was just burning through the morning fog, I decided to concentrate on watching for and listening to birds.

As I turned the corner by my brother’s house I stopped dead in my tracks – there were a pair of ducks, mallards to be precise, standing on the sidewalk in front of me. Now we don’t live in one of the neighborhoods where there are lakes, or ponds, or even a river. Oh, I think a few neighbors have swimming pools and there are a few hippie hot tubs around, but no open bodies of water. We have lived in this same neighborhood for almost 37 years and I have never seen a duck taking a walk down our sidewalk. So . . . seeing a pair of ducks did surprise me a bit. It also brought a big smile to my face.

You see, there are three animals that always cause me to stop, smile, and just plain mellow out  — ducks, toads, and beagles. Why? Well, that is another story. I will say that my nickname (thanks to a high school friend) is Duckman but that, too, is another story.

So…I stood and watched the ducks until they finally realized that they were in a cheap neighborhood that didn’t have a pond or a lake and they flew away. I walked another half block and when I turned the next corner, a dove walked out in front of me from under the neighbor’s rosemary plant. A great plant — I always swipe my hands through it when I am out for my walks. Now, I am not over the top about doves like I am about ducks but they are fun to watch and to listen to when they mourn.

So I am now feeling pretty good about seeing a few of nature’s creatures when I turn the corner again, and out of a neighbor’s lavender plant (yep, I run my hands through it, also) hop two little bunnies. Again, keep in mind that this is southern California and not central Illinois. In Illinois there always seem to be a dozen or more rabbits (notice I didn’t call them bunnies) eating my tulips. We don’t have bunnies in this simple tract neighborhood. The bunnies just sat there. Since this is Easter week, I started to really wonder.

So ... in my mind these were definitely omens and have already brought me pleasure. I cut my exercise short by thirty minutes in order to get home and write this all down. And … No! None of these were pookas. But they all provided a Moment!