When I was growing up, there was a song that loosely translated from Russian as “Stork on the roof means happiness in the house and peace on Earth”. A bit cheesy, perhaps, but, if I see a stork on the roof, I would definitely think of it as a “good omen”.
It looks like there is a family of black vultures that has taken up residence in the near-by pine trees. They are odd birds – large, silent, and somewhat ungainly. When I saw one hanging out on the neighbor’s roof, I thought “Hmm… That’s got to be bad luck omen right there.” And then we saw 2 perched up on our own roof. Today, there was a large group of vultures (maybe 6 or 7?) hanging out in our back yard. Just, you know, walking around, spreading their wings every so often. One seemed particularly interested in a bright yellow ball that the kids left out. The more I watched them, the more I liked them. They are eerily quiet, there is occasional bickering, but overall, they give off a feeling of a good family dynamics, where everyone gets along. I don’t see bad omen any more – I see intelligence, curiosity, and playfulness.
With Passover coming up, I’ve been thinking about plagues… so 2020 was Coronavirus, 2021 is supposed to be locust (at least on the east coast). Perhaps our neighbors the vultures will somehow play into some sort of over-arching story of darkness and doom. This is the stuff myths are made of! (I don’t want to think what 2022 will bring… meteor showers? Toad falling from the sky? – I’ll take toads over meteors, I think…)
What do you think about vultures? Do you have any superstitions about birds?
Love love love them. They're my favourite birds. I see them as good luck vs. a bad omen.
ReplyDeleteThey are pretty cool birds :) There are a couple dozens black vultures and turkey vultures hanging out in our neighbor's pine trees. Unfortunately, they can cause damage to roofs and our new neighbors are trying to "encourage" them to go roost somewhere else (nothing dramatic, they just have some sort of a thingy hanging up in one of the trees that may or may not scare the vultures away).
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