In Which Owl Comes for Breakfast

Saturday morning the kids were outside shortly before 9 am getting ready to run errands with dad. Little half pint spots a blue jay flying by, and then suddenly... they see this fine fellow sitting in the tree right outside our door. We all felt awed at the sight of him. Gorgeous.

After reveling in him a bit we all went on our ways... Hub and the kiddos all on errands, myself back to the house for cleaning. But I couldn't help thinking about this owl as I went about my morning. Humbled to realize that animal eyes are watching us even when we don't look up. Or down. And I felt honored... as if Owl Spirit was with us in this house. And that seems good and right.

He stayed...and stayed. I kept going to "check" on this one... wondering when he last ate (we have heaps of snow keeping all the mice safely underground), if he was sleeping, if he was cold... (it was below zero this day). I was struck with his patience. He sat, unmoved by the crows constant harassment, unmoved by the gusts of wind, or that odd lady who kept coming out to look at him. He just sat. Watching. Being.

Sometimes as I walk by my back door, my cat Chocolate is sitting on the porch calmly, serenely looking at the door. When I see her, and she sees me, her posture seems to lengthen-- as if to say, "I knew you would come." I always wonder how long she has been sitting there unmoved and patient. Watching. Being.

There is a sense of wisdom that spoke to me through these animals. A yearning rises up in me. I hear their message. Sit. Watch. Be.

My meditation teacher often spoke of the difference of Human Doings and Human Beings. I know it is true-- even when I sit down at home, I am doing-- reading, talking, eating, contemplating... or worse getting online! When I get out of the habit of sitting meditation I really feel it on a deep level. Sitting connects me to that deeper part within me, the part that holds my inner wisdom, my higher self. When I sit daily I am able to access that deeper, inner, higher part of myself more readily as I go on to my day to day life. It manages to muffle the mindless chatter that makes up our modern world, just a bit for me.

I have been out of practice. But Owl helped me remember.

Wisdom from Piglet:

" 'There's Pooh', Piglet thought to himself. 'Pooh hasn't much Brain, but he never comes to any harm. He does silly things and they come out right. There's Owl. Owl hasn't exactly got Brain, but he Knows Things. He would know the Right Thing to Do when Surrounded by Water. There's Rabbit. He hasn't Learnt in Books, but he can always Think of a Clever Plan. There's Kanga. She isn't Clever, Kanga isn't, but she would be so anxious about Roo that she would do a Good Thing to Do without thinking about it. And then there is Eeyore. And Eeyore is so miserable anyhow that he wouldn't mind about this. But I wonder what Christopher Robin would do?' "

My favorite children's book about Owls:





And my favorite book to study birds (Owls included):

"Spooky chuckled. 'I've got an empty stomach myself, Peter,' said he, 'but it isn't making me unhappy. I have a feeling that somewhere there is a fat Mouse waiting for me.'

In Which We are Introduced

Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie
A fly can't bird, but a bird can fly
Ask me a riddle and I'll reply
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie
-- A.A. Milne

I remember when I was in elementary school, our guidance counselor came to the classroom and told us kids a thing or two about our futures. We were destined, he said, to be just a social security number; the only way to stand out from one another was to compete academically. According to this man, the future held a world in which only the best and most successful students were destined to live a life worth living!!

...A fly can't bird...

I remember closing my eyes and wishing hard that I was growing up instead in the mountains of North Carolina in the 1920's...and specifically as best friend to my Granny when she was a girl. (If you are going to wish, may as well get down to the details, I say!) I smile at the childish sweetness of that. I really did long to be there with her. The stories she told me filled my mind with images of simple joys. One in particular was how she and her best friend would run to the field to meet one another. When they saw each other from afar they would start waving and calling to one another in all their joy and excitement.

Often as a kid, when I closed my eyes and wished I had been born in a different time and place, (which was often) I would be there in that field, waving and calling and running toward that sweet person who I so dearly loved. That image stays with me still. I guess somehow, somewhere, I am running in that field.

...but a bird can fly...

My childish desire to live in a different time has continued to be a presence in my life. Though we are a modern family, I tend to remain skeptical of much of what modern culture offers. I lean heavily on the "good ol' stuff", especially when it comes to advice... and equally especially when it comes to children's literature.

I am a mama... a good ol' fashioned mama (who happens to decide to blog,but never mind) who tries hard to encircle her children with a fierce love and protection with a good dose of humor and heavily laden with kisses and books. Good books. And I am a wife... still happily in love with the man I was fortunate to marry. Oh, and we live in New Hampshire... and I love it here!

My bright eyed boy, aged 9 & a half, has brought the sunlight into my life as I had never experienced it before.... ever since the day he was born. Lordy, lordy there have been hard days. But somehow that boy has a light in him that shines right out of those big eyes and drips right off his lips that can make the hardest day turn back into gold. I am not sure if  his feet have truly touched the ground yet. I think he still floats a bit in the spirit world.

My dear lil 'un, a girl aged 5 & a half, has two feet planted firmly on this earth, and delves her hands right into this thing called life with unfettered glory. She plans on not missing a single opportunity to live each precious moment, and can just about be counted on to be good at anything she tries to do. She has a light that shines from her eyes as if to say-- "dare me!" But there is a fragile heart and spirit underneath all that fire for life, and despite her willingness to charge forth, she is oh-so-grateful for this mama who she can run back to when things go wrong. (As unfortunately they often seem to do.)

The hub is a wonderful soul who loves his family more than life itself. He occasionally scratches his head at how he landed here with me... and good naturedly accepts and often adopts my crazy ideas. He works so hard for us, that dear man, and doesn't get nearly the accolades he deserves for truly taking good care of us all. He still has a smile that knocks me off my feet and a kindness that is just envelopes my heart.

And so We are Introduced...again... or for the first time.

Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie.