A Crow, Six Snails and an Ant

I wrote in a post earlier this year about how after reading a book about French food that I was going to try escargots in the near future -
Fibonacci, French Food and Synch?

Well, last Friday I booked a table at a Brisbane French restaurant for lunch, so I could tick one more thing off my "to do" list. 

A scene from the movie 'Up'

Then I was going to drive up the road and check out a house I read about that week in the news as well as another street in West End that I used to be real familiar with in my childhood days, but hardly recognize now -
What's Up at #42?

42 Mollison Street in West End 

It's amazing how you can live in the same city all of your life and yet avoid certain areas for years, until you don't recognize that area any more.

The view from my table at the French restaurant
 at South Bank Friday

And on Friday I discovered a restaurant that I never knew existed in Brisbane, even though I've walked through Brisbane's South Bank Parklands quite a bit this year, but never down to where this restaurant was located.

I didn't even know about the StokehouseQ restaurant and Stoke Bar across from the French restaurant, which made me feel a bit uncomfortable, because I was wearing my Tottenham Hotspur FC t-shirt that day and Tottenham had beaten Stoke City 4-0 during the week:-)

Like the French, Spurs' mascot is a rooster, too

I thought if there were any Stoke supporters around Brisbane they are probably sitting at that bar across from me thinking, look at that smartarse over there in his Spurs t-shirt trying to rub it in our faces.
I decided it probably wasn't a good idea to look over towards the Stoke Bar much, just in case there was an angry fan having one too many to drink, while spotting my t-shirt.

Looking at the Goodwill Bridge from Aquitaine restaurant

I kept my eyes towards the Goodwill Bridge to avoid any potential trouble from the Stoke Bar patrons ... better safe than sorry, as they say.
As I sat looking at the Goodwill Bridge, I was thinking about the last time I walked across it to see Nick Cave play Riverstage a few weeks ago, and the crows that I saw over that side of the river hanging around the roof of the stage before Nick came on -
You Can Never Step on the Same Riverstage Twice ... Especially After 10 O'Clock at Night ;-)

The crows on the Riverstage roof just before Nick Cave came on

I could also see the gold trumpet blower I recalled seeing on the day I walked along the riverbank the day before my father passed away and I was also wearing that watch I wrote about in that post, as well -
Stop the Clocks? Signs?

As I sat there sipping on my Kosciuszko beer with all those thoughts swimming in my head, a crow landed in a tree opposite my table facing towards West End, where my Nana used to live and where I was heading after lunch.

I called out to it in my thoughts trying to send it a telepathic communication (as if I knew how) to turn the crow's head around and face me so I could get a photo ... and it did.

I was stunned to say the least ... which of course I did, because I  didn't speak at all to the crow.
So, I snapped a quick photo of the bird while I seemed to have its attention.
As regular readers here would know I consider crows to be my spirit animal, so this quick response from the crow floored me, whether it was just coincidence, or not, that the crow responded to my thoughts.
Then I thought to the crow to send me another animal sign my way, so I could then go home and look up what it meant for me.

As soon as I had thought that to the crow the waiter brought me some kind of bread entree and I was confused, because I didn't order this, I ordered half a dozen snails and the fish of the day.
I thought maybe this was just on the house, so I broke it open and there were the snails.
I was expecting snails in their shells where you needed a snail fork and tongs.

I thought, well these don't count, because I was thinking of a live animal totem to the crow, not a cooked one.

Next minute a solitary ant comes marching past right in front of me and stops as if to say, "would you like a picture?".

I thought it was weird to see only one ant with no more ants within cooee of it.

So, as I sat eating my main meal of snapper with almonds and pea sauce, I thought this ant must be my sign.

When I got home, I Googled ant and totem animal and got the above page with a crow facing the same way the crow I saw at lunch was facing, and I was dumbfounded once more, so paid attention to what was written at this site. 

I wanted a second opinion, as well, so I went to this site to see what advice they offered about the ant - "Being at one with an ant is like being the guru of patience. 
One has to have a deep understanding of the members of a system, accept their worthiness and move ahead to make his/her own contribution. 
This perception is the key to achieve equity in any civilization at any point of time. 
Observing and implying the collective nature of ants will certainly bring peace and prosperity to the subject. 

Taking actions at the micro level with honesty and motivation will also bring changes to macro levels."
Well, I can't argue with that, I guess;-)
And I thought nothing could top this day, until the next day when I decided to head out to another part of the Brisbane area just beyond the city limits that I rarely venture to ... Redcliffe, home of  

the Bee Gees.

Something Strange Happened to Me on THE WAY out of a Taoist Temple