Lady Luck

Just before the Magic Carpet left our little Tuscan hillside, I was given a ladybird! He isn't the kind that eats aphids, but the soft, squishy kind that smiles all the time and fits perfectly in your arms when you are feeling sad or afraid or just want someone to hug. Which could equally be said about the very special family who gave him to me. He is, they

told me, like all ladybirds, lucky. And he would keep us safe on our epic journey. 

Well, with the help of our Guardian Angel, he certainly made that magic. And if ladybirds are lucky, then , as well as being the windiest place in the world, and the cameelious-est, Sidi Kaouiki is undoubtedly the luckiest! I have never seen so many ladybirds! In the garden, in the house and

 even amongst the shining rockpools on the seashore

- everywhere you look you can be sure that, if it isn’t a camel you are risking walking into, it is a ladybird that you are risking walking on. The trouble is that if you are looking out for one, then you are liable to miss the other. Which would be nothing more than a minor irritation to a camel, but could be catastrophic for a ladybird. 

So most of the time I look down and hope that when I forget, their propensity to luck keeps them safe. And after all, the very fact that they haven’t blown away, implies that they have Someone on their side...

Or very sticky feet!