It's a Veritable Parliament of Owls!

Ok... there is definitely something in the air today, and in some ways I am being very literal!

I had originally planned to write a blog post today about a life affirming encounter I once had with an owl, when things started to get very weird.  So weird, in fact, that I had to re-write what I had already drafted so far for this post.

I've been wondering what to write about for a few days now, and I finally had a moment of inspiration and decided on the story of my favourite owl encounter.  At last... an idea!  Woo hoo!  (Did you notice how I cleverly injected an owl-like sound effect in there?)

Well... did you? (Via)

Within an hour of deciding what to write, I noticed a headline on one of my news feeds that read, "Owl stops traffic in Ontario town."  (If you would like to read about the traffic snarling owl, just click here.)  Now, you don't really hear or read about owls every day, so that really caught my eye... especially given my recent landmark owl decision!  So, I did a bit of a double take and then carried on with my day.  I was, however, kind of amused that the topic of owls had surfaced two times in one day.

I was in for an even bigger surprise when I got home and settled in for a night of writing and Facebooking only to see this on a co-worker/fellow blogger's status update:

"Tomorrow doesn't look busy enough. I think I'll add a tetanus shot to the schedule, seeing as I just got attacked by AN OWL."

My eyes bugged out at yet another owl reference!

(Via)

I hastily commented under her status, "This is SO crazy. I am literally writing a new blog post about owls right now! So weird!" 

... and then, unselfishly remembering that alongside the word "owl" she had written "attacked", I quickly added, "By the way... are you ok?" 

Turns out the owl did draw blood, but overall she is fine.  How crazy, though!  Gillian, the victim of this airstrike, will thankfully live to see another day.  Lucky for us, too... Gillian is a talented and relatable writer and you should check out her blog, "Finding My Weigh" right after I finish my owl story.  :-)

So, after this crazy, owl infested day, I am feeling extremely motivated to share my own owl moment with you.  This story dates back almost 10 years now that I think about it, but I remember that day so vividly.  I was working at an employment centre at the time and my job involved regular travel out of the office into the community for meetings. 

One particularly sunny day, I had plenty of time before my next appointment, and so I took a longer route to my destination, travelling through a neighbourhood Ken and I had looked at a few times when we were house hunting.  I recall being particularly calm and content that day - my windows were rolled down, I was listening to the radio and I was feeling great!  As I drove along, I soaked up the sights, gawked at houses I liked, and watched people doing whatever it was they were doing that day.

As I drove past a 7-11, I happened to glance upwards.  I literally gasped in awe when my gaze settled on an owl that was perched high above the hustle and bustle of the intersection.  An owl!  In the city!  In broad daylight!  I quickly pulled my car into the convenience store parking lot and maneuvred my car into a spot where I could sit and look at the owl for a bit.  My neck craned, I sat and sipped my coffee and watched this mysterious creature as it silently kept vigil over the neighbourhood.  I was in awe.

I am not lying when I share with you that my eyes welled up as I sat there.  Here I was in one of the biggest cities in the world, and I seemed to be the only one who noticed this majestic bird nestled in the concrete jungle.  I felt like the owl and I were sharing this fleeting moment in time - not sure when it might decide to take flight - and I was absorbing every moment with joy.  How lucky was I to have noticed it?!  Had I not looked up, I would have missed this awesome sight.

Eventually, I realized that I needed to get going,or I would be late for my meeting.  Like a complete nerd, I did a minature little wave goodbye to my owl and headed out of the parking lot and on my way.

Later that afternoon when my meeting was over and I was headed back to the office I decided that I'd take the same route back that I did on my way to the meeting.  If there was any chance at all that the owl had decided to stick around I really wanted a chance to take another look.  In my heart, though, I was sure it would be gone.  When I came around the corner and saw the owl still on its perch my heart skipped a beat!  How could it still be there?  I pulled my car as close to the owl as I could and strained forward to look at it.  Suddenly my face turned beet red.

I haven't shared with you one important little detail.  My precious owl had been sitting on top of a billboard.

AM I THE ONLY PERSON IN THE WORLD WHO DIDN'T KNOW FAKE OWLS ARE USED TO KEEP PIGEONS OFF OF BILLBOARDS?!!? 

I had sat in my car in the middle of a busy parking lot and cried over a plastic owl?!  I was mortified!  If I could have tunnelled underground and disappeared, I would have in a heart beat.

Of course, I then started to overreact and I suddenly became paranoid that everyone in the parking lot knew what I had done, and so I started acting all weird, pretending I was looking in the air for jets passing overhead or a solar eclipse. 

Once I was satisfied that no one was standing by waiting to mock me mercilessly, I zipped out of that parking lot as fast as I could, vowing to never again to be so naive! (Yeah... good luck. LOL)

And of course, I had a good laugh about it on my way back to work.  :-)