Great horned owls

Jan. 22, 2007

Well, we saw an owl last night in the tree in the field. It was big and beautiful. I guess Tyler and Dennis saw it fly for a moment before Tommy and I got outside. (Agata and Travis are wondering about the use of the word "got'. I wonder if it's just a crutch. I could have written that sentence "before we went outside", "before we were outside", "before going outside". But we limp along with "got". ) Anyway, back to the owl. It was very big, with the tufted, required horns. I feel so blessed to see an owl. It think it's very rare. We wondered if it was watching the rabbit. We speculated that when it was completely dark, the owl would begin to hunt. And when it was dark, it left. Until then, the owl was very still. In third grade we put on a big pageant. We had dances for all of the seasons and woodland creatures narrated. My best friends all were ballerinas in the Springtime sequence. My whole life I had wanted to wear a pink net tutu and tights and pull my hair back tight like ballerinas. I had to wear an owl costume with a hood and owl mask and I had to go to every rehearsal. I wondered if I didn't get to be a ballerina because I had recently received (I avoided "gotten") my first pair of glasses. They were pink, but I hoped the glasses weren't the reason I had to wear the big owl costume. The dancers (my friends) had to arrive early the night of the play to get makeup on. I didn't. I was told to just come a little early. No make-up required. So anyway, the next summer a big ugly girl in the neighborhood was mad at me. She called me "teacher's pet" and said that I got the best of everything. She said that I was even the star of the school play. I said, no I wasn't. (still thinking about tutus and hairspray). She said I was. The star of the whole school play and I was on stage the whole time. She said the play was about me. I told her that wasn't true. Then I went home and told my mother what she had said. My mom said it was true!!! I guess at the back door to the auditorium they had passed out programs. My Mom showed me the program which she had carefully filed in the "Jolene" file. They were brown and in the shape of an owl. The play was called the "Owl's Tale". I had never even seen the program. I was dropped off at school early and my parents arrived later. No one ever told me!

So I've sort of had a familial relationship with owls ever since.

Keep praying for us and write Alex. He should email Tuesday night, if all goes well with Southeast Asia fiber-optic cable.

Love, Mom