Owl Inspiration...

Tonight we took ourselves off to the movies, a treat, considering its a school night..., we've been wanting to see the film version of this book http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardians_of_Ga'Hoole  since we saw the trailers for it months ago...  And oh my..., it was wonderful... The animation is so incredibly breathtaking.. A must see for adults as well as children...

Owls are such beautiful creatures, sometimes at night I can hear a pair calling to each other - (though not sure what species...) And unfortunately, I do not have any owl photo's myself, but I was able to find a photo online of what I consider my favorite owl -  Barn Owl (tyto alba)

Photographer ~ Liz Noffsinger

I have another reason for wanting to post about owls, last night I came upon a new (to me) poem by Mary Oliver, in which she describes what I believe to be a barn owl as "pale angel..."  I love her poems, but this one really called to me...

The Poet Goes To Indiana ~ by Mary Oliver

I'll tell you a half-dozen things

that happened to me

in Indiana

when I went that far west to teach.

You tell me if it was worth it.

I lived in the country

with my dog ---

part of the bargain of coming.

and there was a pond

with fish from, I think, China.

I felt them sometimes against my feet.

Also, they crept out of the pond, along its edges,

to eat the grass.

I'm not lying.

And I saw coyotes,

two of them, at dawn, running over the seemingly

unenclosed fields.

And once a deer, but a buck, thick-necked, leaped

into the road just ---oh, I mean just, in front of my car ---

and we both made it home safe.

And once the blacksmith came to care for the four horses,

or the three horses that belonged to the owner of the house,

and I bargained with him, if I could catch the forth,

he, too, would have hooves trimmed

for the Indiana winter,

and apples did it,

and a rope over the neck did it,

so I won something wonderful;

and there was, one morning,

an owl

flying, oh pale angel, into

the hay loft of a barn,

I see it still;

and there was once, oh wonderful,

a new horse in the pasture,

a tall, slim being --- a neighbor was keeping him there ---

and she put her face against my face,

put her muzzle, her nostrils, soft as violets,

against my mouth and my nose, and breathed me,

to see who I was,

a long quiet minute --- minutes---

then she stamped feet and whisked tail

and danced deliciously into the grass away, and came back.

She was saying, so plainly, that I was good, or good enough.

Such a fine time I had teaching in Indiana.