Superstitions

While I love, love, love October I care not a whit about Halloween. In fact, I despise costumes and trick-or-treating. I also don't consider myself a superstitious person. I don't think twice about black cats or walking under ladders. Broken mirrors are merely small messes that require cleaning up and cemeteries are cool places to go for a walk. You certainly won't see me holding my breath as I drive past one.

At one point in my life I only picked up pennies that were head-side up. Then for awhile I picked up any penny I ran across because money was more important than luck. Now I just find pennies to be a nuisance. I throw mine directly in the coin can at home, rarely keeping more than 4 in my wallet. And I don't bother to pick them up anymore. Ever. (Sorry, Mom.)

The only common superstition I can think of that I do subscribe to in any fashion is knocking on wood. Don't get me wrong, I know this one is just as silly as the rest of them, but for whatever reason it seems to be a habit of mine. I don't even care about the wood part. I'm more than happy to knock on things that are clearly not made of wood, like the steering wheel of my car (that's a story for another day) or my own head.

Another thing that I do that some people would consider superstitious is my preference for not talking about something because I don't want to jinx it. Again, I know this sounds silly, but I don't like to put things out into the universe for fear they then will never happen (or they will come true, depending on the scenario, obviously).

A few weeks ago, after we had set up camp at Cranberry Lake, we headed out for a drive to explore the area and to find firewood to buy. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and my husband was admiring the scenery and not paying attention to his speed. The second he saw the trooper he knew we were going to get pulled over, and we did. I won't go into details but after the initial conversation and handing over of documents when the trooper went back to his vehicle, my husband said he wouldn't give him a speeding ticket. And while I certainly hoped he was correct, I NEVER would have said anything like that out loud. Yes, my husband was basing his confidence on prior experience and a natural optimism I don't share, but I still would never have put it out there. It has nothing to do with being wrong. I don't care a whole lot about that. I just don't want to give the universe an opportunity to screw me over.

Sounds crazy, right? C'est la vie.

And for the record, my husband was correct. He was not given a speeding ticket. Thank goodness.