This is my post for #freewriters 2605 prompt bad sign hosted by @mariannewest
I think there are three different kinds of signs. You have the kind a city puts up telling you what you can not do. When there is a red circle with a line through it, that means NO, you are not allowed to do what is in the picture. I was wondering who came up with this concept so I Googled it and I found something that Google does not know. This is what google said about it.
The concept of the red circle with a line through it, signifying "no doing this," is not attributed to a single individual but is considered a universally recognized symbol that developed over time, likely originating from early road signs and standardized signage practices across different countries; making it a collective creation rather than an invention by one person.
Next I was wondering who was the first person to use this sign, so I went back to Google and it does not know that either.
While there isn't a definitive historical record of the first person to use the "no doing this" sign (a circle with a diagonal line through it), the earliest known widespread usage of this symbol is believed to have originated in ancient Rome where it was used as a visual representation of a prohibition or "not allowed" concept, often seen on public notices and signage.
I did not think it was that old.
The second kind of sign are signs of encouragement, one that can lift your spirits and help you find peace within yourself. When I read one of these signs, a calm feeling overtakes me and I always smile.
There are humorous signs. I like this one. I have one hanging in my house that confirms this one, It says an old crab lives here but this one says I live here, too.
Here we have one of the most truthful signs I have ever seen, if you do not have a lot of money, you had better turn around. It was 10 dollars to go through a tunnel, and for every bridge we crossed, and then there were the toll roads we had to travel.
And then you have a sign that is far from the truth. Someone put this one at our boat ramp. There has never been a shark attack in our river and very few in the ocean near us. This is even with the amount of bull sharks we have in the river. Just north of our inlet is what they call a nursery, it is where they have their babies.
Some signs are useful to the wildlife. Here an osprey built her nest and every time I went by it she would yell at me, I could hear her babies chirping.
Some signs I wonder why they needed. I thought it was general knowledge that it was illegal to pass on the shoulder but I guess in this town, they need to be reminded.
The third kind of sign is the one you feel, you can call it your intuition. The first time I felt this I was a child and started to go inside my house. My knees started to shake and I was scared to go inside. I would not go in the house, but my little sister and brother did and they both got sprayed by a civic cat, they are a relative of the skunk.
This has happened a few times in my life and every time it happens, I know it is a bad sign.
There are also good signs, but we need to listen to them. So many times we get "that feeling" and blow it off as nothing only to later regret not doing what our gut was telling us to do. This year I will do my best to listen to "my gut feelings".
photos are mine