It’s a Sign (2024 Edition)

This is a beautiful ballad from the Eagles, released in 1975, “Take It to the Limit.” Listen here.

All alone at the end of the evening
And the bright lights have faded to blue
I was thinking ’bout a woman
Who might have loved me
I never knew
You know
I’ve always been a dreamer (spent my life running round)
And it’s so hard to change
Can’t seem to settle down
But the dreams I’ve seen lately
Keep on turning out and burning out and turning out the same
So put me on a highway
Show me a sign
Take it to the limit
One more time

♪♪ Show me a sign. ♪♪

I hum this line in my head when I see a sign that catches my attention. Here’s a little collection of signs that caught my attention—for one reason or another—in the first half of 2024.

Upper left: Boulder City Rec Center bathroom. It pays to read to the end. Gotta love municipal employees with a dark sense of humor.

Upper right: Vending machine in a hotel in Indiana. “Work hard. Snack often.” A succinct description of my life.

Center right: “Today I am an American.” The sign at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services center where I attended my beloved colleague’s naturalization ceremony. What an uplifting reminder of the amazing country we live in (for all its faults).

Lower right: Poor resolution so it’s hard to see the annotation, but if you look closely you see MOM written on the sign: STOP MOM. There has to be a story there. Is it “we have to stop mom…”? Or “mom, stop!”? Or both?!

Lower left: Sign at the lab where I was getting some blood tests done. OK, they don’t want food or drink there. But what is the meaning of the animals on the sign? If you eat, a zebra will spit at you or an elephant will stomp you?

I can’t remember which friend or relative told me: “It must be hard to be you!” (Probably not just one.) Sometimes a sign is just a sign.

In 2016, I took Son 2 to the prospective students’ day at the Catholic college he ended up attending. The college president, a Friar of the Dominican Order, was an outstanding speaker, always with a great message and excellent delivery. He spoke about the monumental decision that students and families face in choosing a college. He told us that day that we should not expect a burning bush.

I couldn’t help myself: the fact that he used one of the rare Biblical references not lost on me…kinda seemed like a sign.

Signs can be burning, sarcastic, cryptic, true. They are everywhere.

♪♪ Show me a sign. ♪♪