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| Birds of a feather - Anna and Summer on New Year's Eve |
A little over a week ago, Alex was painting Anna's room a lovely shade of lilac (such a good Daddy), and I ran to the basement to get something...I forget what (not unusual for me). As I walked past the glass door that leads out onto the patio, something caught my eye. For an instant, I thought it looked like a disembodied cat's head. Eww. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was an owl! Right there, just a few feet away from me but totally unaware of my presence. (For perspective, these pots in the picture below are huge - I plant tomatoes in them.) So, to paint the scene for you, it was a windy day. A really, cold and windy day. Miserable. And windy. I was hoping against hope that this little guy was taking refuge from the north winds and not sick or wounded from flying into the side of the house, which has happened before with smaller fowl. He never opened his eyes, but when a gust of wind would swirl around, you could see him get a little taller, as he was bracing his puff of a body to hold steady. I'd never seen an owl this close before, so I knew Anna had never seen one either. His facial markings looked almost cat-like. My friend, Beth, who knows about these things told me from the pictures it looked like a screech owl. Upon my own investigation and extensive research (aka Google images) I concurred. We kept checking on him throughout the day, and with the exception of a couple of "presents" he left us, he barely moved for hours. Then, after dark, I went down to check on him once more. It was so dark, I couldn't even see out those few feet so I turned on the patio light and he was thankfully gone with no signs of carnage. Disappointingly, he did not leave any owl puke for us to dissect. (Yep, I'm totally serious about that.)
We really love our life in the 'burbs and the enjoyment of nature that it has brought. I love knowing that this is the stuff that will weave the web of Anna's childhood memories. Butterflies, hummingbirds, frogs, wild turkey, deer, fireflies, the humming of cicadas...
And this owl.
And the coolness factor? Don't even get me started!
