The Roadrunner stood sentinel

The roadrunner stood sentinel with one wing in a sharp salute as we left the SKP RV Park
near Benson Arizona.  Whenever I see a great siting in nature when I am en route
somewhere, I consider it as a lucky charm.


I decided at a young age that lucky numbers were of no use to me.

I reached up and lay down my precious quarter confidently on the number six. 
As the bells rung out, the neon horses began their race around the track along the inner
walls of The Derby at the CNE, Canadian National Exhibition, in Toronto.  It seemed like the
race would never end but when it finally did, bright yellow lights flashed and the vendor
called out “Number six, six is a winner!” 


My heart pounded as I scanned the six-foot high stuffed bears, dogs, apes and snakes.
How would I ever choose?  Before I could catch my breath, a three inch high, plastic
Topo Gigio in a cellophane wrapper was tossed towards me.  I forced my tears back
enough to ask in a shy voice, why did I not get to choose a large prize?  A gruff voice
filled my ears as he shouted “ the light must turn RED for the big prizes but it was YELLOW
for you!  I turned away shaken and disappointed.  I have never liked the colour yellow much
and perhaps that is the reason for it.  After I had a good cry and explained the whole thing
to my Dad, I carefully opened the bag to retrieve the soft little mouse whose fame, like
The Beatles, had been made on The Ed Sullivan Show.  I was determined to love the wee
rodent as if he were as good as a large plush animal and from what I remember, I kept
my promise.  After all, I had always loved the way Topo said “Keese Me Goodnight Eddie”.



I think it was shortly after my adventure into gambling with my 25 cents that I adopted the
practice of associating luck with seeing neat things in nature.  As I do not believe in any gods,
I tend to turn to nature for my life lessons and inspiration.  That power grew as I matured
and I continue to draw my strength and joy from the natural world on and around Planet Earth.
I had to walk though a large field on my way to high school and the siting of a hawk or a rabbit
or even a mouse, provided a small charge of hope.



I did not expect those moments to produce luck or success but consciously noted that
my day would be good.  Driving to work in adulthood, I always noted the appearance
of a fox or deer or special bird as a sign that my day would be fine.



I am not in the least bit superstitious.  Science and logic are important to my decision making,
however, I still find myself experiencing a palpable thrill when I spot something cool in nature
as I travel somewhere.  And that is what I experienced when I saw that Roadrunner standing at
attention at the end of our road as we drove out of Benson RV Park a few days ago.

By the way, my little plastic Topo is worth $25.00 today….but who
knows where he is at?
*Thanks to Google for all the images in this post.