Guess what? Summarizing the information that's available about an animal that's been the subject of intensive scientific study takes longer than summarizing the information that's available about an animal that is so pretty everyone wants to snap a photo of it. I spent so much time with the horrid Hemileuca oliviae yesterday, I didn't have time to look up this week's Long & Short Reviews prompt. And I have yet to pick a new spooky e-book for those who celebrate Halloween.Oh dear oh dear it will be late.
But the prompt is an easy one: Is there a superstition you secretly believe in?
Some old superstitions did have a base in the real world. I don't know if the person who asked the question thinks those count. Here are five superstitions it's reasonable to believe in...sort of. As far as they go.
"Evening red and morning gray
Sees the traveller on his way!
Evening gray and morning red
Brings rain on the traveller's head."
It's not 100% accurate, but the way the light shines through clouds and dust in the air does correlate with the humidity in the air, which, combined with heating and cooling patterns, does tend to indicate the likelihood of sunshine or rain. Not that we in the Blue Ridge Mountains get to see a lot of red sunrises. Our mornings are usually foggy, and on rainy days it's usually already raining when the sun would have appeared behind the mountain if rain clouds weren't in the way. A red sunrise is a lovely sight, though rare--and it is sometimes seen in a dry season, not followed by rain. As for sunsets, we learn quickly that there's a shade of red that usually does promise a sunny day, and another shade that usually indicates a storm is near. So it's not settled science, but the pretty colors of the sky are worth looking at in any case.
"Night air is bad air."
The air is fine. What our ancestors noticed about people who went out in the night air was that they were vulnerable to diseases carried by night-flying mosquitoes.
"If you see a four-leafed clover, a pin, or a penny, and pick it up, it brings good luck."
If you see any of those things, you already have the blessing of clear short-range vision. So you have good luck. If you see a four-leafed clover, you also have a lot of clover, which is even better. If you pick up a pin, you will probably find a place to put it where nobody will step on it, which is good luck for everybody. And if you pick up pennies, you can pay for things with exact change, which is also good. So it's true enough that all of these objects are lucky, although picking them up does not mean that you'll meet your beshert or win the lottery or even have the good luck of the afternoon commuter bus meeting its connection on time. The secret to enjoying this superstition is to have reasonable expectations.
Does failing to pick up the lucky object bring bad luck? Well, obviously, failing to pick up a pin means that someone is likely to sit or step on it. Failing to pick up a penny indicates that you aren't very frugal, which is likely to lead to seriously bad luck. I've never heard of anything unlucky happening to anyone who chose to leave a four-leafed clover alone.
"Black cats bring good luck of other kinds, and three-colored cats attract money."
Three-colored male cats were worth money in the recent past, when people were trying to find a three-colored breeding male cat. Three-colored females were likely to give birth to a three-colored male kitten. Now that we know the genetic reason why three-colored tomcats are sterile and usually unhealthy as well, nobody's offering big prices for them. However, both black and three-colored cats make excellent pets. Isn't having a good pet lucky?
"When you see a car with only one headlight working, shouting 'Padiddle!' brings good luck."
It does, it really does, if the driver pays attention and gets that light replaced before receiving a ticket. I don't know why "padiddle" was chosen as the code word. Possibly because it's a really easy word to lip-read when the car windows are rolled up and you don't hear conversation outside the car.
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