As I sat at my desk ready to wrap up the day, I suddenly noticed to my left a ladybug on an envelope. I hadn’t seen it all day. I don’t know how long it had been there. But suddenly, there it was. I was two stories up, and there were no windows open or doorways to the outside. So it’s arrival was quite a surprise.
I must admit, that sweet polka-dotted creature brought a smile to my face. And for some reason, the sight of it in early February made me wonder if that might be a good sign of sorts.
Always the curious one, I couldn’t help but do a little research for fun on the symbolism of the tiny creature. Here is what I found:

Nearly ALL cultures believe that a Ladybug is lucky.
Killing one is said to bring sadness and misfortune.

In some Asian cultures, it is believed that the Ladybug understands
human language, and has been blessed by God, Himself.

If the spots on the wings of a Ladybug are more than seven,
it’s a sign of coming famine. If less than seven, it means
you will have a good harvest.

In Belgium, people believed that if a Ladybug crawled across
a young girl’s hand, she would be married within a year.
Allow me to divulge, the creature did not alight upon nor crawl across my hand. Looks like I am safe for another year. But with it being Valentines this coming weekend and all, I just could not pass up this little entry.
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Later in the evening, I recalled the first words of that clever saying, but for the life of me could not remember it. But I found it. Remember this?
“Ladybug, Ladybug, fly away home your house is on fire, and your children will burn. Except little Nan, who sits in a pan, weaving gold laces as fast as she can!”
Celticbug.com gave me the origin behind this diddy: Undoubtedly, you’re familiar with this well-known children’s rhyme, but do you know how it originated? In Medieval England, the farmers would set torches to the old Hop vines after the harvest, to clear the fields for the next planting. The poem was a warning to the aphid-eating Ladybugs, still crawling on the vines in search of aphids. The Ladybugs’ children (larvae) could get away from the flames, but the immobile pupae (Nan) remained fastened to the plants (laces) and couldn’t escape. Kinda morbid, huh?
So, for you trivia buffs, if you see a ladybug this week, I hope this short essay will help you to feel if anything, a little bit enlightened.
S.