Open Sesame?

My sister recently shared with me about her research on bird omenology, where people in certain cultures base all their daily decisions on the observed behaviors of birds in their environment. I am skeptical of such superstition, and yet...in the past three days, three things in my life have been accidentally left open or unlocked, each time with potentially disastrous consequences and each time related to goats. What is the meaning of this?

First, on Sunday morning I woke to the sound of rain pounding on the roof. When I went outside to check that Em and Ellie had dry hay in their shed, I noticed that my husband had left all his car windows open. This concerned me, as I recalled an incident several years ago when I drove to work one sunny afternoon, only to realize on my drive home at midnight that the headlights were not operative. After a harrowing trip by only the moonlight, I confronted him. "Did you know your headlights are both burned out?" His reply astounded me. "Oh, that," he answered. "They got shorted out when I left the windows down in the storm last week, but I figured I'd just drive in the daytime until I got them fixed. I guess I forgot about you working late..." This time I made sure to thoroughly dry the entire interior, and I tested all the electrical components (after checking on the goats, of course).

That was Sunday. On Monday my daughters and I went to our local town fair to drop off produce from the garden for the vegetable judging. We were planning to go home after registering our cabbage, squash and beans, but at the last moment decided to walk across the fairgrounds to see the baby goats in the petting zoo. Then we noticed the funnel cake stand, and several hours passed before we returned to the parking lot, where I saw in horror that my front passenger door was wide open. Somehow in our impromptu decision to visit the goats, I had neglected to close the car door, leaving my wallet, keys and an envelope of cash right on the seat. Thankfully we must live in a town of honest people, as everything was still there, but it was quite a while until my heart stopped pounding as I considered what might have been.

Monday evening I went to work until past midnight, hoping to sleep in the next morning.  However, I awoke just after 6:00 am Tuesday to my husband urgently tapping my shoulder. "You have to get up!" he exclaimed. "The goats are loose." Someone had apparently left the gate unlatched the night before, and the goats were having breakfast in my flower beds, gleeful in their new-found freedom and determined not to be caught. I can only imagine what I looked like madly chasing the goats around the yard in my pajamas.

Three days, three things left open or unlatched. Is this a sign? Surely it can't be related to my goats, as I only have two, and yet...at a yard sale Saturday, just before this all started, I saw a sign advertising "Baby Goat for Sale." She was so adorable - and maybe three is a better number than two...I think I might just have to drive by that farm again tomorrow.