Omens and Portents

First, I'll talk about the Omens (For the purposes of this post; omens will refer to "real and verifiable" events, and portents will refer to subjective events such as dreams, hallucinations, and inner thoughts). Then I'll look at a couple of Portents.

Omen #1) The disappearance of the crows. As anyone who has talked to me on the phone when I am on my deck can tell you, the crows that live in my neighborhood are as much a part of the local soundscape as the reggae-jazz-blues-country-pop-triphop jukebox that is my computer and the playlists it uses to satisfy my need for music. Well the other day after work , I was enjoying a very peaceful beer and cigarette to the tunes of Count Basie, when I noticed that something was a little off. It took me a while, but I finally got it: no crows. The crows around here are constantly bickering about some shit that matters only to them. Like old queens who have lived together for far too long, there's no real argument; its just the way they talk to each other. After a little refection, I realized that the crows had been gone for a couple of days. Like the demise of the Anasazi, the disappearance of the crows raises questions. Why did they leave so completely and suddenly? Where did they go? Is there something they are aware of in the future of our area that humans cannot perceive? Were they banished from our area by some frightful avian Deity? Will they be back? (They are back, but fewer and quieter than before the Exodus.)

Omen #2) The four needle bundle. A day or so after I noticed the absence of the crows, I was enjoying my usual after work outdoor idleness with the requisite soft core drugs, when LO! into my lap fell a pine needle bundle (a pine needle bundle refers to the way the needles are attached to the tree: there are two, three, or five needles to a bundle, the needles are held together at the top [tree or branch end] by a wrapping of bark like material). On a windy day any number of such bundles are blown off the trees and fly about a while before coming to rest on the ground, where they stay until they rot. The cover of pine needles on the forest floor is essential in helping the soil retain what little moisture it gets from rainstorms. Once again, I digress. What qualifies this needle bundle as an omen is that it consisted of four needles. I have pretty good success at identifying the trees around here and I have never seen a four needle bundle before. I am in my sixties and have already forgotten more than most people will ever know, but the idea that there was a tree that I didn't know in my stomping grounds intrigued me, so I dug out my copy of the Rocky Mountain Tree Finder by Tom Watts. Well, turns out I was right. There are no pines in the Rockies that produce four needle bundles (or anywhere else as far as I could determine). More questions: Are four needle bundles like four leaf clovers; rare but not unknown? Is there a mutant tree in my area? What are the odds of a four leaf clover anomaly flying around on a fairly calm day during an exodus of crows and dropping out of the sky right into the middle of my lap? This has got me puzzled, but it's not freakin' me out. (yet)

Portent #1) An audio -visual hallucination. One week ago today, I was looking through my email and just generally piddling aound on my computer when I heard what I thought at the time was some one walking by outside the window across the room behind me. Then the sound seemed to be at the window itself. I got up to see what was going on. As I rose from my chair and turned toward the window, which is next to my bed, I saw and heard what appeared to be a small cat or ground squirrel run out from under the bed and then back again. At this time both the the front and back doors to my digs were closed. The bathroom window was open, and it has no real screen. What it does have is a mesh of spider webs (being the only way in or out for insects it is the perfect spot for a web, and the two spiders that live in the window frame reap a rich harvest). Anyways I looked high and low for the animal that I had seen. Not a trace. Spider webs intact. My living unit is tiny. If anything larger than a dormouse was in my apartment I would be able to locate it in less than five minutes. I searched for half an hour for the critter that I was certain I had seen. Now, in my younger years I have taken many mind altering and hallucinagenic drugs, some of which could pruduce vision and sounds that could easily mistaken for reality. So you might say that I am on speaking terms with things that ain't there. This was different than a drug induced vision. I may just be going nuts. If I am, it's a very subtle process.

Portent #2) A dream with a voice-over at the end. I had a dream a day or two before I noticed that the crows were gone. In the dream, I was given (by whom I know not) a series of puzzle-like tasks to complete before I could rejoin my visit with a woman I had been learning some semi-magical skills from earlier in the dream (she was also introducing me to people that it was important for me to me to meet). Since I like puzzles and enjoy solving them the dream was not at all distressing, but every time I thought I had completed the task more puzzles would be presented. (I know, I know, Nothing more boring than other people's dreams.) Now for the portent: my alarm went off to wake me from the dream. Then when I was fully awake and getting out of bed to go into the kitchen and make coffee, I heard a voice (not mine I assure you) say, "you've got 'til (I'm not gonna publish the date) to figure this out, or we're all in deep shit!" Who can imagine what that's all about. As ones gets older do dreams persist into wakefulness? Am I hearing angels finally, after all my years of self denial and piety? Somehow I doubt it.

There's more, and lots of it, but some is too personal and some is just too fantastic to put in this blog. Let's just say that I have reason to believe somethin's up but I'll be damned if I can tell you what it is.

Todays music pick: Serve You Right To Suffer by John Lee Hooker. Just great blues!

Today's recommended read: Find some more of Jim Harrison and read it. I guarantee you won't be wasting your time.

Today's Quote:

The moon comes up,
the moon goes down.
This is to inform you
that I didn't die young.
Age swept past me,
but I caught up.

Excerpt from Jim Harrison's poem " Barking "

Thanks for stoppin' by.