Strange Spirits of Saturday?

 I had originally planned to spend this 3 day weekend at the shore.  I had even thought that perhaps I should invite friends down to spend Sunday with us, as I know they have been under a lot of stress.  (Okay, who hasn't?)  But as it often does, fate stepped in.  My friend's mother passed away and instead of going to the shore, I thought I might need to go be with her and her husband to mourn her mother. But then in another twist of fate, her husband felt ill and tested positive for Covid.  Back to plan A; heading for the NJ shore.

However, last night the weather forecast said we would be getting 3-5 inches of snow; both up in North NJ as well at the shore.  So plans were up in the air.

When I woke up this morning there was maybe an inch of snow.  Cameras at the shore showed that there was MAYBE a half an inch down there.  So I went out to shovel (since the snow had stopped) and to get the paper.  Watched CBS Saturday Morning and waited for hubby to wake up.  It started to snow again (but not much), so I did some more clean up while hubby made coffee.  Made the decision to head south, despite the continued flurries.

We drove through bright sunshine.  We drove through deep, dark black skies.  We drove through flurries.  There might have even been some rain.

Since we had started later in the morning (in the warm/summer months I insist on leaving before 7), we stopped to pick up some groceries at Walmart.  (Only stop there if we leave later in the morning.  I'm a devoted ShopRite shopper, but hitting the store after 8 AM on the weekend is CRAZY.)  As usual, we ended up with more than we intended, as well as more than the two bags that we brought could really hold.  (Walmart does have some items that we can't find at our ShopRite; as a matter of fact we packed a bag full of items that will stay in the car since they are intended for North Jersey).  The self-checkout areas were very packed and since we had more than 20 items (I think), I decided that we should get on a line with a cashier.

My husband chose the line.  The cashier was an older man and he was rather slow.  But the kicker was his name tag read "Steve," which is not only my husband's given name, but the name by which my father went.  Earlier, when we were shopping in the aisles I saw Entenmann's Hot Crossed Buns.  I nearly broke down in tears as these were favorites of my father's and I had a difficult time finding them (specifically Entenmanns) over the last year or so when I most wanted to get them for him.  Cashier Steve slightly resembled my father with his white hair and slow movements.  While I don't regularly frequent Walmart, this is the one location that I will go to and I had never seen him before.

We got to the house, unloaded our groceries and other foodstuffs that we had brought with us.  Hubby sat down in the living room and noticed this:

A lone gull sitting on one of our pilings. My mother LOVED to watch the birds (most specifically the "diving ducks" in the colder months) and the living room was the perfect place for her to sit and observe.  The gull stayed very still and seemingly stared right at me.  

Or maybe it was staring at the orchids in the bay window.  My mother had 4 or 5 orchids sitting in the bay window.  I gave one away (to my son's girlfriend's mother).  One had obviously died and on our last journey down here I had thrown it away.  There are still 3 on the sill and two are blooming!

It's important to note that I am not really good with plants.  My father had a green thumb and my son inherited it.  I just do my best to try NOT to kill them.  Sometimes I'm lucky...most times not.  So to see this...it was...overwhelming...

Is this all some sort of sign? Or is it just that I WANT to see a sign?  Does it really matter?  I think I'll just take comfort in the sights of the day.