Dijon, France, has a sweet old (600 years) tradition: you make a wish while stroking la chouette (owl, carved in a buttress of the Notre Dame Cathedral) with your left hand. Whenever I walk down rue de la Chouette I pause for a few seconds, left hand on the owl, eyes closed, making wishes for my family's health and happiness. Sometimes I help tourists who are courting imminent disaster by using their right hand......

So, you can see by the wear on the owl how popular wishing is among people......

Walking by the other day I had a thought: if my high tech glove works on my smartphone screen, it should work on the owl too, right? And, it may be symbolic of the balance between solid old and new tech, and between hope and daily reality: at around freezing, I wasn't touching that owl without gloves, but I wasn't giving up on wishing the best for my family either!

I've always operated at the 'make your own luck' end of the wishing spectrum......but I do love this owl.

That reminds me: back to work making my own luck in the new company. These things certainly don't run on dreams.....or blogs......alone!