Duck Man, Rabbits and White Doves – Everyday Magic

I go to Magen’s Bay on Sunday mornings. In addition to turquoise waters and sea grape trees, one of things that warms my heart is to see the white dove that hangs out at the far end of the beach.

I especially love it when I see Blanca (my name for her) perched on my Suzuki Grand Vitara. Then I know for sure it’s going to be a great day. Nothing like a bird and a blessing.

Which gets me thinking about times in my life when I looked forward to seeing something along the lines of Blanca – an omen, a mascot, a sighting – something pretty random to which I’d assigned magical powers.

When I was living in NYC, my boyfriend and I delighted in seeing a vendor with a pushcart that was laden with stuffed ducks of the bright orangey, yellow, fuzzy, fake-fur variety; creatures hung on and packed into a cart that moved around the West Village and Washington Square Park, catering to tourists and children and us. Seeing him always made me happy and know it’d be a great day. My boyfriend and I would come home and report, gleefully, “I saw the Duck Man” and we’d both feel bathed in good fortune.

When I lived in Davis, California, my daughter started going to middle school and I drove her to the other side of town, past a large uncultivated field where we always saw grey rabbits hopping around. We’d count them and it’d be a two bunny day or a 5 bunny day. My daughter and I would smile because seeing the bunnies reminded us that all was well with the world.

Which reminds me of the Disney Cruise ship pulling out of port here in St. Thomas and how it sounds the first 7 notes of “When You Wish Upon a Star” – I tear up and keep an eye out for those red smoke stacks and the mouseketeer ears, praying that I’ll catch that musical treat.

I looked up the word mascot in my trusty, very large Webster’s Third International dictionary. Mascot is defined as, “a person or thing held to bring good luck” and as “something regarded as a cherished emblem or symbol” and lastly, as ” a small boy chosen to accompany a team to its contests, typically wearing its uniform and usually obliged to perform such chores as tending bats or fetching water”.

I don’t have any such requirements of my ducks, rabbits, white doves or cruise ship horns. I just consider it an honor to be in their presence. I assign benevolent meaning to the magic of their existence and to those special moments when our paths cross.

I’m glad that I don’t get too bummed out when a Sunday goes by and I don’t see Blanca, or when I didn’t see the Duck Man or when the rabbit field was turned into a public swimming pool or I miss the Disney ship’s visit. I  ask about the bird and I wondered where all the rabbits had gone – but I’m not handing over my power.

I’m just aware of what brings me joy and makes me happy. Since I know that joy begets joy – noticing and being grateful for and moved by these birds, ducks, rabbits and horns invites more of the same into my life.

And now I’m remembering the days of finding playing cards all over the place and delighting in the kings and queens and aces and even the two’s, and how it feels to see dolphins or a whale passing by.

What does it for you? What are your personal feel-good mascots and signs? Collecting evidence for everyday magic is just another way of saying thank you and inviting more of the same into our lives.

Blanca on the Suzuki