Lots of little signs

I just came back from a weekend trip to the forest.

When we arrived at the cabin where we were staying, my wife turned on the television. It was Tremors 2: Aftershocks, and the first thing I heard was (quoting from memory), "Don't worry about Burt. He's got a plan. Burt's always got a plan. Usually." The reference was to the character Burt Gummer, played by Michael Gross, but my recent post connecting the name Bert to Q gave it a different meaning. Trust the plan. As I write this now, I notice that Michael Gross means "Great Michael," the archangel.

We went out hiking, and I paid my respects to a gigantic old fig tree I've visited many times. This time I seemed to feel contact with something older, deeper, huger than the spirit of the tree itself, and I thought, "It's the Guardian Angel of Earth." Just then a woman walked by, and printed on the back of her jacket, in English, was "[. . .] ARE GUARDIAN ANGELS" (the first word was covered by her hair).

Someone had put little signs on the trees at intervals to mark the trail. They hadn't been there last time. Each sign had a picture of a fairy or angel (a man or woman with butterfly wings) holding a white lily flower -- a motif straight off the banner of Joan of Arc.

Later we walked past an old concrete wall on which someone had scratched graffiti with a stone: "平安耶穌愛你" ("Peace, Jesus loves you") and two enormous Qs.

On the way home, we stopped at a 7-Eleven to get coffee. The TV screen behind the counter was playing an advertisement for a movie or video game or something called (in English) "Magic Arch."

Later, in the car, my wife pointed up at the sky and said, "Look, McDonald's!" I asked what on earth she was talking about, and she said, "Oh, the clouds just formed a double arch, but it's gone now." I looked up at the sky anyway, just as a huge eagle flew past. Migrating eagles do fly over Taiwan, but in my 16 years here I never saw one until today.

"Look, McDonald's!" may not be the most romantic reaction to a striking cloud formation, but the occurrence of the name Donald seemed significant.

We had dinner at a restaurant run by a friend, and afterwards she asked if we had any suggestions on how the food could be improved. Someone said, (in Mandarin), "The noodles were great, but I don't think they were quite Q enough. They need to be just a little more Q." In Taiwan, Q (always written with the English letter because there is no Chinese character for it) means something like al dente.

Later, at home, I was washing dishes, listening to music on my phone, and mentally reviewing everything I wanted to include in this post. I had been listening to Leonard Cohen but then had a sudden urge to listen to "Everything Right Is Wrong Again" by They Might Be Giants. This was just as I was thinking about the "Look, McDonald's!" incident. When you select a song, the app will create an "up next" list of songs it considers similar or something, and this is what I got.

I'd never heard of a song called "Rock N Roll McDonalds" before, but there it is, right after "Rock 'N' Roll Is King."

All in all, I feel more confident, less on the edge of my seat, than I did yesterday.

Peace, Jesus loves you.