Sandra Larson’s Blog

When I was nineteen years old, I received an invitation to visit a cousin in Texas. Being from a small town in northern Wisconsin, I was thrilled! I’m sure it wasn’t my first airplane flight, but it was the longest one I’d ever been on. We were nearing our destination when we were caught in a huge air pocket. The plane dropped and lifted us up out of our seats like a bumpy, scary ride at the carnival. My first thought was, “My goodness, everything really is bigger in Texas!” Maybe it was this experience that made me want to compare the differences between Texas and Wisconsin.

From the moment I got off the plane, I was excited to see how different the two states were from each other. As we were driving to my cousin’s home my eyes were wide open, looking out the car window at the Texas landscape. I found I was feeling a little disappointed because with all of the green grasses and beautiful trees, it looked a lot like my home state. But all that suddenly changed when I spotted an armadillo on the side of the road. I hooted to my cousin, “Look, an armadillo! We’re not in Wisconsin anymore!” (I felt a bit like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.) Even though the poor thing was dead on the side of the road, I begged my cousin to stop and let me look at it up close. And that’s when it happened: I fell in love with armadillos!

Now, I live in Texas. Sadly, I do occasionally see a dead armadillo on the side of the road. When I do, I always say a little prayer and blessing to the beautiful animal on its journey. After all these years, I still love these little creatures and pray to see them living in the wild. A couple of months ago, I got my wish. My two dogs Buddy, Casey and I were walking the trails near our house when we spotted an armadillo. When he saw us, he made himself into a little ball and rolled down the hill. Keeping a tight rein on my dogs, I giggled with laughter and said, “Yes, I finally saw one alive!” I had to tell everyone on the trail that day about the special visitation.

Just this morning, I made a discovery. Buddy was barking in the backyard and then he suddenly stopped. Of course, this made me nervous because he is a known magician when it comes to escaping out of our backyard. (I’ve now fixed this newest escape hatch.) My intuition kicked in as a kind trucker blew his horn to warn me Buddy was outside the fence. Sure enough, I looked everywhere in my backyard and he wasn’t there. Feeling a little panicky, I opened the front gate and called Buddy. As he was walking toward me, I looked at the side of my house which is covered in tall bushes and saw the most beautiful armadillo looking straight into my eyes. She had chosen the area under my front stairs to create her burrow, and was standing in front of entrance to her new home. I quickly picked Buddy up before he could see our new house guest and when I looked back, she was gone.

After this glorious encounter, I looked up the meaning of armadillos in the Ted Andrews book, “Animal Speak”. Here are a few quotes from the book that seemed to be a message to me: ‘Armadillo teaches you how to protect yourself … Ability to protect without causing undue harm to others … Teaches discrimination … Often individuals who are extremely empathic will have an armadillo as a totem … This heightened sensitivity needs to be controlled and balanced. Armadillo can do this or show you how to help others in this position.’

So did this beautiful armadillo come to me with a message? Is she my power animal? Did she come because I loved and welcomed her? I’m not sure, but I can tell you this, I often quietly sneak over to my bedroom window to peak out and see if my new home dweller is coming or going. It’s so exciting to know she may be close by. I’m guessing there will be more to this story, so stayed tuned.

My nephew Blake is a sweet and caring kid! He has a very tender heart and also is a great animal lover and animal advocate. He has stood up much older kids in the defense of a wounded wild bird. So when my sister told me about the death of Blake’s Grandpapa, her father-in-law, I knew it would break his heart. Bonnie is a great Mom and spent time privately talking with him about the sad news.

Blake and I are buddies, so I waited at their home for them to return. While waiting, I looked out the front door and to my surprise I saw a beautiful gray cat lying in the middle of the street. I rushed out to make sure he was alright and hadn’t been hit by a car. The minute I approached him, he sauntered up next to me, not at all injured or concerned about the possibility of being so!

I decided to sit down on the sidewalk and visit with this sweet animal. He climbed all over me, welcoming my attention. I’m sure we visited for about an hour. I told him about Blake’s sadness and asked if he would be here to comfort him when he got home. The cat did not leave me. Finally, Blake and Bonnie pulled up in the car. Blake jumped out to visit with me and the sweet gray cat so I asked Blake if he knew this cat. He told me the cat is from the neighborhood and he had been visited earlier in the morning by the very same cat. It made me wonder if this cat knew Blake would need a friend today.

With the cat receiving our loving attention, Blake and I were able to talk about his Papa, death and so much more. The cat made it all so much easier. I love that about animals. About two months later, I saw the same cat walking across the same street. An angry mama bird was marching across the street following, no chasing the cat away. I smiled at the switch in roles: a bird chasing a cat! He was moving along quickly to hide under a truck when I noticed he looked back at the bird and said: “Hey, leave me alone. I don’t want your babies. I’m a lover, not a fighter!” And I had to say, “Yes you are sweet cat!”

Sandra Larson