Roadrunner - Monday 1/16/2006

I was out for my little solo birthday hike around midday yesterday, and a roadrunner appeared in the path ahead of me! They are a pretty rare thing to see. Until we moved out here, I’d only seen one in my life. Since then, maybe on average once a year.

She popped into view at the left side of the trail, glided a few feet forward, turned and looked at me. Tail up, tail down, tail up. Repeated this about three times until she crested the hill.

I hope you haven’t strained your eyes looking for her. No, I didn’t get the shot. My camera was in my backpack and I just stood there grinning.

Of course, she was nowhere to be seen by the time I went over this rise. Wonder if she was watching me.

It felt like a very good omen. When I got back home, I checked my Medicine Card book to see what it means when a roadrunner wanders into your live. Had to check the table of contents three times. No roadrunner! I even had a picture in my mind of what the card looked like.

The creators of the book/cards provide blank cards so you’re free to design your own if an animal speaks to you. I never thought I’d have occasion to do it, but I sat down yesterday afternoon and wrote a preliminary interpretation of what the roadrunner means.

The whole encounter and subsequent thought processes gave me a big lift.



Bonus photo: tenacious weed.