Is someone trying to tell me something?

The other day I was walking in my yard and I heard a woodpecker.

I immediately thought, “The harbinger of death.”

Woodpeckers are not known to announce death but that was my thought. Of course, I then decided to use that in my Fracturing Realms series about another realm where flowers and trees can kill or befriend you, dragons fill the sky, elves can morph into animals and a father, wrongly imprisoned wants his family and his revenge (to be released 2021).

The next day, I heard some odd noises.

Animal noises.

I’m getting pretty good at differentiating the sounds of the native critters.

Hawk

Owl (boy, do they make some creepy sounds)

Sandhill crane

Deer

Gator, etc

but this was different.

I heard the same sound later that evening and the next morning on my walk I almost wet myself at the sound of wings.

Silly?

I don’t think so.

If you’ve ever been around big birds you know that their feathers make some big rustles and when you’re alone in the woods with a few scardy-cat dogs, you get nervous at any large animal sound.

So, this is what I saw.

And these may not bring death but they sure do signal that it’s been around.

I’m a big believer in trusting your instincts. Those feelings you can’t explain are there for a reason. They developed over thousands of years. Our ancestors relied on them to survive. So who am I to scoff at them?

This is what I saw when I left to go to the store later that day.

Let me tell you that I thought twice about leaving.

Was someone trying to tell me to stay home? Was I about to get into a car accident or catch Covid-19?

Well, I may be a big believer in instincts but I’m also one to look for the logical answer over the divine or instinctual.

I’d seen the buzzards earlier en mass and now here they were again.

I drove my car over by where they were congregating and saw the deer. It was in the ditch. It was probably hit by a car. I think it was one who hung around on my property. I had been seeing two of them on a somewhat regular basis and now, I’m only seeing the one.

I feel for him (or her). It must be scary to be out there alone. I hope he finds a few fellow deer to hang out with soon.

By the way, I went to the store without any issues but I still think the woodpecker knew.