Symbols–How Oscar Meyer keeps me on track

 

In past posts I’ve written about teachers, mentors and situations that have edged me along on life’s path. Guides that have been invaluable in providing directions during my 47 years on the planet. Maybe you’ve had similar experiences. But as you plod ahead, taking their advice, have you ever wondered if you are on a straight course or perpetually caught up in a holding pattern? Better yet, have you ever asked the Universe for some sort of sign that you are indeed headed in the right direction?

A whole-hearty yes for me on both accounts. Confirmation always comes, sometimes without me asking.

Just last night I was walking around the yard and a dove landed on the pavers walk. It cocked it’s head in my direction. We held each other’s gaze for the better part of a few silent minutes, then he ruffled his feathers and flew away. “Rain’s coming,” I whispered to myself aware that Native American folklore says that doves typically lead to water and appear to announce the arrival of rain. I pulled my phone from my pocket and was not surprised to see thunderstorms in the forecast.

Others have shared with me that rainbows and pigeons represent the presence of loved ones passed. Lines from songs like Pablo Cruise’s ”Keep your heart open cause love will find a way.” Specific words or even quotes from a movie such as “There’s no place like home,” inspire a similar kind of remembrance. All seemingly random events that appear in our lives at not so random times. I can relate. I’ve had a similar type of symbol cross my path. Perhaps not as majestic as a rainbow, or as heartfelt as a song, but a sign all the same. My talisman is the Wiener Mobile. Yes, you read right. Every time I go out on a limb or step from my comfort zone, the footlong Oscar Meyer Wiener on wheels appears. I know, I know…keep your mind open and hear me out.

My first year college, during the Daytona 500, I was camped out in the infield (back when tickets in the infield were the cheap seats) and what rolls out on the track for a pre-race lap but the giant wiener on wheels. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, that was first contact.

Eight years passed, and I’m at Flight Safety’s Falcon training center in Houston. Stressed out to the max, I was sitting outside on a break from a four hour, blow-out simulator session, and what do you think glides by? Oscar Meyer’s rolling red hot on a bun. Siting number two.

Time moved on and my husband, the Red Baron, convinced me that our lives would be a thorough waste if we didn’t experience the process of building a kit airplane. I must have been jet-lagged when I agreed because the day the semitrailer dropped off three large crates of plane parts on the driveway, I felt like I was going to throw up. As I dashed to wretch in the closest trash bin, the knocking of a diesel engine diverted my attention. Lo and behold, the OM Frankfurter rocked the road rumbler. According to experts on Criminal Minds, three related events officially formed a pattern.

At Teterboro, NJ airport about to take off in one of the worst winds storms I’d ever flown in, what do you think snaked around the airport ring road? A smiling brown and orange weenie on wheels.

Two days after I took over our remodel in Tulsa, the bowwow mobile hummed down our quiet side street. The driver, dressed in a standard issue OM canoe hat, opened a window and made the trucker’s ‘honk your horn’ fist. “Stay the course. Hot dogs forever.” My on track sign, struck again.

Now, there’s the mid-life career change from pilot to author. Believe me, from time to time I do consider that I’ve become all thrust and no vector. But if the trend continues, and at this point I have no doubt it will, before too long, I will have a Vienna beef confirmation.

Moral of the story is that every time I was about to embark on an audacious adventure, OM miraculously appeared to cheer me on. Like I said, I didn’t realize the significance of the sign at the time. But after multiple appearances, I began to put it all together. Lucky for me, the Universe is a patient place. (Since bombarding me with pounds of Eisenberg beef clearly wasn’t enough.)

Don’t think for a second that signs are only for a selected few. In fact, I believe these gifts are available to everyone. All you have to do is open your mind, ask for a confirmation and keep your eyes open. When you least expect it, you’ll see your own version of mystery meat.

E.L. Chappel author of Spirit Dance/Storm Chasers/Risk

“I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Wiener…”

Sorry Smiley–Can’t help myself. They’re served on steamed, poppyseed buns.

Hot diggity dog!

aka The Glamorous Wife