Omens

Listening to Macbeth on CD in the car, reveling in the rich language. Duncan has just been killed and there is the comment about the ill omens that foreshadow unnatural and deathly events - "A falcon, towering in her pride of place, was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and kill'd." That was yesterday while running errands.

And the headline today? Birds attack peace doves freed from pope’s window. Yikes! That doesn't bode well.

VATICAN CITY — Two white doves that were released by children standing alongside Pope Francis as a peace gesture have been attacked by other birds.

As tens of thousands of people watched in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, a seagull and a large black crow swept down on the doves right after they were set free from an open window of the Apostolic Palace.

One dove lost some feathers as it broke free from the gull. But the crow pecked repeatedly at the other dove.

It was not clear what happened to the doves as they flew off.

While speaking at the window beforehand, Francis had appealed for peace in Ukraine, where anti-government protesters have died.