Ah, finally, the wily, trickster, wise coyote totem has come my way with determination. He is a gorgeous and proud specimen who has been waiting for me just across the street from my house – not just in the park which spans about ten houses,  but DIRECTLY opposite my front door no matter what time I begin my walk with Ed the Dog. 6 am. 6:30 am. – and this morning as late as 7 am – there he was as I opened my front door.  Yesterday morning I ignored my 5:30 alarm only to be awakened by him howling and barking across the street.  I figure maybe Twister the Cat is just taunting him from the front window: “Neener neener neener I’m an indoor cat, you’ll never get me, sucka!”  But then again…he seems to have it out for me.

This coyote (he? she? – for some reason, probably Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons, I just always think of them as ‘he’) is so beautiful.  Every color of brown dappled throughout his fur, AKC Champion lines, regal prance.   This morning we really needed to get on with out walk so I stamped my foot and told him to “go on.”  I had to do that six times – each time he’d prance a few feet and then stop and stare me down.  Unbelievably powerful animals, those coyotes, can make one feel humble with a stare.

So aside from the usual coyote totem lessons – wily, indeed; tricksters with a sense of humor;  wisdom and insight – why here? Why now?

I am at a crossroads right now.  I have been blessed with many choices available to me in my personal, family, professional life.  It is almost too much for me – I get overwhelmed by the plethora of blessings.  Which one to choose? Which way to go?  Which ones are illusions, mere tricks of the shape-shifting coyote?

This morning may be the last time he shows up.  Why? Because here I am writing about it, having been made aware that maybe the universe is trying to tell me something.  His work here is done.

This is the only thing I can come up with are words of wisdom embedded in the minds of a generation:  Let it be.  The answers are not mine to manufacture, only to live and honor my life as it has been presented to me in all its blessings and to make the best decisions I can with faith that should I take the “wrong” path, that I will, like the coyote, be able to dance and play and laugh my way along, still alert, still aware, still open to the next path that leads me to my destiny.