signs are everywhere

My late husband loved to be outside tending to our small yard. Whether he was growing flowers, vegetables, shrubs or grass didn’t matter. He paid attention all year long to all manner of growing things and their respective needs be it fertilizing, pruning, watering, transplanting or some other necessity. Self-taught, he learned by trial and error, but being a person who cared deeply, he intuitively knew where help was needed. This was true whether he was caring for plants, animals or people. He was keenly attuned to the signs around him.

He would frequently see hummingbirds in our yard. For decades, I never saw one, and I’m the birdwatcher. I feed birds year-round and can name a couple dozen common species that show up regularly. I get very excited when I see a rare visitor or spot one I know that likes to keep itself hidden. And, yet, only he would see the hummingbirds.

I saw one today fluttering by the geraniums. I take it as a sign. The last time I saw one was a few weeks after he died. I was at the camp where we had volunteered for years. At the end of the week and after the campers left, a group of counselors and staff who’d known him well gathered with me to share our sorrow and our memories. As I listened, a hummingbird hovered nearby for 10 or 15 minutes – a very long time for them, I think – flitting back and forth from blossom to blossom as if listening too. I certainly took that as a sign that he was with the whole group.

I don’t need signs but I sure do like them. And they are everywhere. Some of us hear them in a song, see them in numbers, read them on license plates or public signage. It could be a smell of perfume or pipe tobacco. It can be anything, of course, because we are the ones who make meaning of our life; we notice the signs of someone or something important. So, for me, a hummingbird is a particular sign that always consoles me and makes me smile.

Signs are everywhere. Look for them, connect with them, celebrate them. And, then carry on.