The first two definitions of the word “sign” when used as a noun according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary are:  1) a motion or gesture by which a thought is expressed or a command or wish made known, and 2) a signal.  My father taught me an appreciation for signs, both when learning to track (but we never hunted) and also when he taught me to drive.  Like my father, my husband and I share a love for historic markers, old signs, and even advertising.  I guess the most classic is the old bar sign, “Beware of Pickpockets and Loose Women.”  I believe it originated in New Orleans, although I am not sure.  I also love the more modern “All Unattended Children Will Be Given an Expresso and a Free Puppy.”  I have no idea as to the origin of that one either.  In our neighborhood a couple of years ago someone chainsawed an old, historic living tree for its wood.  It rises up from a creek bank and grows parallel to the ground instead of vertically.  That is known as an “Indian marker tree,” tied back long ago as a sapling to help tribes know where they were.  This was especially important because where we live is basically all flat.  I still remember on the beginning day of our honeymoon in Paris I asked my husband where he thought we should go first.  He said we should go to the top of the Eiffel Tower and he was so right.  From above he was able to orient us, helping us learn not only where famous landmarks were but in which direction.  I may have been the one who knew French but he really helped navigate us around the city.  Of course sign language is imperative for those who cannot speak and/or are unable to hear, and “Indian” sign language was crucial for cross-cultural communication.  Old cartoons used to poke fun at it, but smoke signals were also an ingenious way for Native Americans to communicate.  Daddy fought in Korea and he said, despite all their reconnaissance, they could just not figure out how “the enemy” was getting their information.  Turns out an elderly couple in this tiny little house were posting American coordinates by the way they hung their laundry.  In the Bible Luke 2:12 says, “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”  Rainbows are said to be a sign given from God.  I am reminded of the old joke where this guy is in a flood and someone comes along with a rowboat, telling him to get in.  “God will save me!” the man cried.  As the waters rose a motorboat stops to offer help but the man said again, “God will save me!”  After hours of severe flooding the man wound up on top of his roof.  A helicopter spots him but the man waved him away, yelling, “God will save me!”  When the man drowned and got to Heaven he asked God why He didn’t save him.  And God replied, “What?  Two boats and a helicopter weren’t enough?”  I have always liked signs, in whatever form they may take.  I recently found this sign and it now hangs in our kitchen.  Whether you believe in fate, you may be lost, or seeking inspiration … I say always look for the signs.