wisdom

to take the unusual sighting of an owl on an evening walk as confirmation that you should change your life seems like a stretch, maybe.  but if you'd seen that owl!  the way his head spun to look right at us, his enormous wingspan dwarfing the stop sign he'd landed upon.  the feathers made a sound as he adjusted them that was akin to dragging heavy coats across an empty floor.  as i looked into his eyes, the energy there reminded me of every person and creature i've loved and lost.  could it be that he was visiting from across time and space?  i guess it doesn't really matter.  i've never been much of a science fiction buff, but on the exact day that we decided to take a leap of faith into a far simpler life by buying an ugly little house, less than half the size of our current one and making a grand downsize in stuff and a big upsize in peace is the one and only day i've seen an owl in the wild.  as a bit of history:  my grandfather gave to my mother a golden owl brooch on the day she married my father.  he said it was to represent what a wise choice she'd made.  when told that story as a child, fingering the heavy gold of the bird, i wholeheartedly believed in symbols.  i believed in talismans.  and i definitely believed in the wisdom of owls.  not so much has changed.