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There's an underbelly of fear associated with objects, rituals, or just plain happenings. It's funny how we find superstitions unfounded and meaningless, yet they have embedded themselves in our minds without even noticing. Some are attributed to just being "Old Wives Tales" or signs of evil. I think I became aware of superstitions when I was about five years old.

I can remember an evening that I learned about many of them, all at once.

It was a warm summer night and my parents and I were sitting on retractable arm chairs in my Aunt Margie's back yard. Besides my family, and Aunt Margie's family, there were my Grandparents Adams and a few other aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was just past twilight and getting too hard to read my ever present comic books in the fading light. But if you looked up, you could see the fluttering erratic flight of some bats. They fascinated me in the way they flew, unlike birds. Stuttery.

My grandmother and aunts immediately began freaking out. They felt we should immediately go inside because the bats would get tangled in their hair and bite them! I thought "Wow, this sounds serious." And, it was. At least to this older generation of women. In particular, my Grandmother Adams. My Grandpa Adams tried to bring them back to reality and grumbled about "old wives tales" and superstitions. Walking under ladders and black cats quickly were mentioned as ridiculous fears too. But, it didn't take long for the women to win out. Folding chairs, and everyone heading for the back door and the kitchen where warm lights burned.

On other occasions when my Grandmother Adams was watching myself and a few other cousins, her superstitions arose. We were marching down Jackson Street where my Grandparents Adams lived and the uneven slate sidewalk was under our feet. My grandmother said "Don't step on a crack, you'll break your mother's back!" She was a kindly, simple Irish woman that still held those dark beliefs inside her -- like breaking mirrors. And, if it was Friday the 13th...let's not even talk about it. It sure made me think about things. I don't think I've ever walked under a ladder. And, even today, there's a little worry in the back of my mind when a black cat dashes in front of me. In fact, it just happened a few days ago when I was driving. Uh-oh, I thought. Then dashed it out of my mind as silly. But, I still thought about it.

At school, a boy I walked part way home with added to that "sidewalk" thing. He recited "Step on a crack, break your mother's back" and then "and give your father a heart attack!" Oh my gosh, he knew about that too. Was there something in it? These superstitions, though fading with generations, were still getting under my skin! And, what the heck, I had a rabbit's foot on a key chain at home. I can't remember who gave it to me, but it was on my bedroom desk near my cowboy lamp.

A few years later, I noticed things with my maternal grandfather. A sensible, God-fearing man of Scottish decent. I never brought it up to him, but he had a rusty horseshoe nailed to a post in their basement. When at dinner, even when we were out, I noticed something a few times. Any salt on the table cloth, he would pinch up with his thumb and forefinger and toss it over his shoulder.

These superstitions were there. Even though we knew we shouldn't believe in them. Just under the surface of conscience some still linger through the generations. Hopefully, they won't linger through the rest of my days...knock on wood.

-Ron Adams 
Ligonier, PA 
May 2026