Swallow Tailed Kite, A Good Luck Sign

Yesterday a swallow tailed kite flew over our house. It was souring along the treetops foraging for food. The swallow tailed kite is endangered in the Carolina's so I've reported the sighting and borrowed the photos from The Center for Birds of Prey to show you. I was in the house and the kite flew away before I could take his photo. I didn't realize these birds can have a wing span of up to 48 inches. The kite is a bird of prey snatching small rodents and lizards from the treetops and eating them while in flight. They rarely flap their wings but glide along in the wind currents, a real sight to observe.

Do you ever take the sight of seeing an animal or a bird as good luck? Perhaps finding a feather lying on the ground is a good luck sign to you? Years ago when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area I was taking my mother to San Francisco for cancer treatments. We were driving on the highway in Berkeley, it was a stormy day and I had classical music playing which mimicked the storm. A white bird (an egret) was my symbol for good luck back then. Just as my mother was asking me, "Do you think I'm going to make it, Linda?" a white bird flew right over my car. I immediately pointed him out to my mom and said, "See the white bird that's a sign of good luck, of course you're going to make it". My mother won her battle with cancer and lived another 25 years. My mom is gone now but we had many a good time after that.

Anyway yesterday when I saw the swallow tailed kite fly overhead I took it as a sign of good luck and I even said so to Gary. Later that morning our real estate agent called us to say the folks loan was a go and the sale of our home is definitely going through. So it looks like I'll be a traveling potter again. Sometimes circumstances dictate sacrifices must be made. Selling our home was the only way we figured we could afford to travel again. After three years we'll be taking a real vacation and I'll be able to make it up to Maine this summer.

Of course seeing a good luck bird is the easy part, now comes packing all of our possessions. By the way how does one move a heavy kiln. How do we pick it up. These and other things are weighing on my mind. Gary said I should sell my kilns and slab roller. Rather than put them in storage I should get others when we settle down again. But I don't think that's a good idea. What do you think? I also have a lot of clay paraphernalia like slump and hump molds, texture mats, glazes, chemicals, stains, well you know, stuff. Maybe there's a garage or studio space I can rent in North Carolina somewhere? Meanwhile on the net we've been looking at homes in mountain communities and travel sites. We've also been looking at kit homes. More about those ideas later. This post is part of Artists in Blogland what's happening in the studio. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.