I asked the universe for a sign, any sign – no later than January, 12th at 3:32 PM.

At 3:20 PM I was standing at the kitchen window, looking out over the moving sea of dry winter grass. The last few days- before the 12th – temperatures had hovered over the freezing mark then spiking to over 50 degrees; before that, sub-zero temperatures had slammed us again and again since late December. It had, for a moment, warmed up allowing the snow to start melting into heart attack snow, then slowly disappearing. By the 12th of January, the snow on the deck had melted and the boards had dried up and the weather was once more January cold.

“Do you know how the naturalist learns all the secrets of the forest, of plants, of birds, of beasts, of reptiles, of fishes, of the rivers and the sea? When he goes into the woods the birds fly before him and he finds none; when he goes to the river-bank, the fish and the reptile swim away and leave him alone. His secret is patience; he sits down, and sits still; he is a statue; he is a log”. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson 

I was staring out the window when I glanced up at the clock. It was inching close to 3:30 PM. My attention was captured by movement on the glass a fluttering of tiny grey transparent wings moved around the ‘outside’ of the glass.  An insect,  no longer than an eighth of an inch, with wings that folded up, cloaking its entire body. When it settled on the outside of the window. I looked past it to the ice that had formed on the railing and deck flooring, to the snow appearing and disappearing, floating past the tiny bug. I watched it shake its wings open and flew. It flew!  It flew away from the window and out into the cold air, taking its chances, enjoying this moment-its moment- one moment.

I blinked. Checked the time, it was 3:32 PM.  When I looked back, It had disappeared. Now, this wouldn’t be unusual if it were November or April.  But in January, after we have had the worst sub-zero weather I have ever seen. Even with the usual warm up the day before, when it had been 55 degrees Fahrenheit (12.7 Celsius).  Even with that warm up, there was no way any insect was going to hatch and then hang around the window.

But it happened.

I got my message for experiment #1

What about experiment #2? Those bright green leaves on a tree?  My indoor plants don’t count, besides I don’t have an indoor tree, well not anymore.

I will give that one until tomorrow at 3:32 PM to show up. I can’t wait to see what happens.