There’s an old superstition that’s says it’s lucky if a bird gets you while flying by. Who came up with that one?
Explanations abound from everything from being mystical messengers to being chosen or a sign of wealth and abundance to come. Personally I’m in the neutral place of having to do with a rarity of occasions. I myself have been graced on one occasion and an extreme near-miss on another. And here are my take-aways that witnesses to my change in attitude, largely due to MS.
The real deal happened in my 20’s on an outdoor patio in a restaurant far, far from home. It was a lost, difficult period of my life and I was having lunch with a new boyfriend (in hindsight clearly a messenger sent to bring me back home). He was taking me out to lunch after enduring a grueling journey to see me and I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t treat him very nicely. And the pigeon was telling me exactly what he thought about that.
Fast forward thirty-five years to a completely different period and scenario. MS had changed my attitude, values, and opinions considerably by then.
It was summer. I was walking along a core downtown street recently closed to traffic to make way for restaurant patios. Lots of people were out and about, some dining and some just basking in the hot sunny weather. Woven in were our dear homeless men and women, unkept and disheveled. Homeless folk never intimidate me and but coming from a professional’s appointment, I was dressed decent which visibly widened the gap. Thankfully on this particular day there was plenty of jostling, bustling and merriment going on in the gaily decorated block that I didn’t stand out that bad.
I was two steps into the sidewalk on the other side after crossing on the walk signal. A middle aged fellow in ragged shorts with unwashed, uncombed hair was leaning against a concrete planter. As I took my third step a distinct splat landed micro-millimeters from my front toe. No songbird-size deposit either. More seagull-like.
“Whooooa,” I blurted out with a giant grin on my face. The homeless guy saw what happened and gave me a bigger toothless grin. “They say it’s lucky if they get you,” I said.
He quipped back without missing a beat.
“Yeah, but I say it’s luckier if they don’t.”
We both burst out with glee. His shiny gums exposed genuine laughter and meshed with mine. Our rank in society didn’t matter, we were equal. I stood a moment and we soaked it in. It’s not often two people of such different categories get to have a true moment. I got to my car with a such a joy in my heart, it seemed out of balance to the occurrence.
But five years have passed and that small incident is one of my most memorable days. Was it a coincidence? No. Given my past experience, I believe it was a nod to a very positive outcome from the professional’s appointment that day, a rarity of occasion. Something only I would know.
So, I guess there is a reason sailors have a myth about not washing away good luck until next rain. I didn’t want to wash away that warm feeling either.
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