Okay boys and girls, it is time to play everyone’s favorite game… Synchronistic Interpretation! What? You don’t remember the rules? Let me refresh your conscious… This is the game where I tell you a strange event that occurred to me, and each of you try to interpret it as Jung would in such a metaphoric way that it becomes a message to me from Life.

Ready to play?

Before we begin, I need to give each of you some background, and hold on to your seats because this is where I have the chance to really impress you with my avian knowledge.

I often enjoy watching my local gang of raptors in action, the Ravens. I always felt that these ultimate tricksters had a lot to teach me, even though some of their antics weren’t always so moral. I remember having lunch and watching a gang of juveniles harrass a cat for an hour. They (and I) noticed it stalking a sparrow, and since they aren’t really predators, they seemed to sympathize with the soon-to-be-lunch, so one raven scared the sparrow away and then proceeded to scare the cat. The entire group took turns keeping the cat under a car for an hour. Great fun… if you weren’t the frightened cat.

I’ve also enjoyed watching these birds fly, and flying doesn’t seem to be purely a practical mode of transportation. They seem to just a kick out of swooping and spinning… and often flying upside-side down. But being scavengers, I’ve often wondered how they work so well in our pseudo-sanitized neighborhoods and gated communities. I mean, we don’t leave our left-over scraps on the ground, but promptly put them into hot dogs (yes, I do enjoy the advantage afforded me of the moral high-ground given to me by my vegetarianism).

Enough raven musings… let’s talk of the neighborhood hawk. I’ve seen it flying around, and I believe it is a Sharp-shinned Hawk (but hey, it could be a Merlin Falcon for all I really know). This hawk, while hunting, will often get harassed by a gang of juvenile ravens, and once again it is entertaining to watch.

OK, now, let’s get on to the story and our game… My family and I were enjoying Mother’s Day down at the local coffee shop and being a fairly nice day, decided to munch on our scones outside. While we were lazily enjoying ourselves, a couple of raven parents were harassing our neighborhood hawk, and before I could react, had chased it right into the window of the coffee shop right next to us.

My wife screamed and I started laughing. The hawk, meanwhile, collected its wits and pulled itself off the ground and took to wing as soon as the ravens returned to their perch.

Oh sure, you skeptics of synchronicity can balk and call it coincidence, but I enjoy looking for the messages in all abnormal events… I just can’t see it. Regardless, who needs TV when we’ve pushed our suburbs so far that wildlife is now coming to us?