I saw a black squirrel the other day. Black! Do you know how rare that is? One in 10,000. I had to check with the person driving to make sure I saw what I saw.
"That was a black squirrel. Did you see that?"
"Yes. A black squirrel. I never saw one."
"Me either."
And I've seen quite a few squirrels in 83 years.
The black squirrel was sitting casually on the side of Black Rock Road in Pine Bush, a hamlet in slightly upstate New York better known for sightings of unidentified flying objects than appearances of unlikely furry objects.
So I figured it had to be an omen. What does Google say?
-- "A spirit animal, the black squirrel represents adaptability and the ability to thrive in various environments and situations."
-- "They are portrayed as being of royal blood and are regarded as the wisest and noblest type of squirrel. In Celtic folklore, black squirrels were associated with magic, occult knowledge, and the otherworld."
In various cultures they are regarded as a symbol of good luck, good fortune, trust, preparation and foresight. Undoubtedly because of all that gathering of nuts before the frost.
Taking all this into account and looking to connect the dots, I went looking for nuts in the rest of the world.
J.D. Vance made it easy. At pretty much the same time as I was marveling at the black squirrel, the Republican Party's candidate for vice president was talking to Dana Bash on CNN. He was talking about other animals. The senator from Ohio was in the midst of acknowledging that he knew the stories about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, stealing neighbors' cats and dogs and eating them were false, but he kept repeating them anyway, for political reasons.
"The American media totally ignored this stuff (Republican campaign claims) until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes," Vance said. "If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do, Dana, because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast."
Bash pointed out Vance's stunning admission: "You just said this is a story that you created."
"Yes!" Vance said.
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