Owls

It's been a bit of a stressful time over the last month or so with all of the things going on in our lives.  I came home after a long day of meetings at work today; it was a drizzly warm evening, with a bit of a fog in the air owing to the super high humidity.  When I got off of the car, I thought that it seemed like a good night for a walk.

After dinner I asked Patty to go for a walk with me.  We went out and I noticed that it had cooled off a bit and the fog was gone.  Still everything was wet from the rain and it was a great night to be out walking.  As we walked through the neighborhood we noticed that the moon was mostly full.  Everything was bathed in moonlight; it was very beautiful and peaceful (in spite of the noise from Mopac).  We walked hand-in-hand just talking, working out as much stress as we could and enjoying the evening and each other's company.

After twenty minutes or so, as we approached home, I just suddenly felt and I stopped, took her in my arms and kissed her.   As we held each other tight, off in the distance I heard an owl.  You hear them sometimes here in town, but it's not that common and it just felt like a special moment, that I had chosen just this time and spot to stop and linger for a bit.  We listened and remarked that it must be a special sign of some sort.  

Eventually we moved on, not really wanting to leave the moment, but understanding that it couldn't last forever.  But as we passed 29th street, I thought I heard the owl down in that direction, so we turned there and walked on towards home.  Sure enough, the owl sounded closer as we walked and then it sounded like two different owls calling back and forth.  Pretty soon it was obvious that we were getting closer.  And then, it was right across the street from us.  We looked up in a pecan tree across the street, and there, high in the branches we could see the outline of a large owl where the sound came from.  Soon the companion called, and he was clearly nearby too.  In fact, as we looked for a bit we picked him out as well, in the same tree just over on the other side.  They continued to take turns calling back and forth, one higher pitched than the other, in spite of the more-or-less constant noise from the cars that passed underneath on a regular basis.  

We stood and watched for a while, not wanting to leave the moment.  I think I remarked that I could stay all night; I've never been that close to an owl calling that I could see so clearly.  But eventually, after several minutes we finally moved on towards home.   But still, that moment will live with me for the rest of my life.  It's frequently not the big things, but the little moments that make up the most special memories.