Sunday, December 5, 2010

Looking for Messenger Spirits

Laura with fox image on bench, Middleburg VA
Until now couldn't mention in casual conversation-because it was too special and too out of the ordinary...On the night of October 27, Laura's birthday, as I was heading up our road in the early darkness,  a fox crossed the road near the pond, then paused and seemed to look back at me.  How often do I spot a fox-three or four times a year maybe?  Laura liked foxes. Like owls, which were another of her favorite creatures,  I think it is the wise part of the fox's persona that appealed and still does.  She did a project on foxes in third grade which still hangs on the wall.  She drew them.  In keeping with Native American ideas,  foxes have become a kind of "messenger spirit" for me
Later that evening at the cemetery, as we kept our vigil, I spotted a shooting star.  Another symbol of nature I associate with Laura, especially as she is often remembered on a theme of stars.  How often do I see a shooting star?  Walking the dog at night I do see them maybe four or five times a year.
But to see both a fox and a shooting star in the same night and on her birthday as well?  It leaves no doubt that Laura will sometimes send the messenger spirits to me.