Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell August 26, 2008

Last week I told you how I had gone down home and was reliving parts of my childhood. I know that there must have been some bad things that happened. But as I get older I do not seem to remember very many bad times. I was very fortunate to have the family that I had and that they did not talk a lot about how the world had not gone the way they thought it should have gone. I can remember Dad telling me when I complained about someone not being a nice person- or something that I thought was not right- He would tell me that is was not good to let people bother me like that and that I should learn to love them the way God had made them. That was not what I wanted to hear. But he would just laugh and say not to let them get under my skin and go on with life.
One of the things that I did when I was little was to get the mail. Maggie Alder was our mail carrier - then when she retired, her daughter, Bea Odell, took the mail route. One time when I was going to the mail box I looked at the barn while I was walking by and there in the open hay mow door was an owl. I do not think that I had ever seen an owl before. But there he was sitting there just looking down at me like I had done something wrong. I think that he was a horned owl as he had those feathered ears that stuck up from his head that looked like horns. I wondered what he could do with those horns. I was sure that it could not be good -it was like looking at a huge mean looking chicken with the capability of a bull. All of these things just did not sound like it was something I wanted to get involved with, so I did what all children do when frightened. I ran to the house for my mommy. I told her that there was a big bird in the barn and he was really mad at me and I had not done anything to him. Mom went out to see what I was talking about and sure enough he was there sitting in the open door and he looked like he was mad at Mom, too. She told me that he was an owl and that is how he looks and that he was not angry.I think that every time, since that day that I look up at that hay mow door I remember that owl. When we went down home last week we were walking toward the barn and there was an owl in the barn. This time, however, he was white I did not get a good look at him and not sure if he had the tufts or if his head is smooth and round like a barn owl.. My first thought is that he is a snow owl- but not sure that is correct. I will do so more looking and checking my bird books to see what he is and will let you know what I find out.
After thinking about how unkind that owl looked- It made me think about how Mom and Dad always tried to teach me that you must get to know someone before you make any judgments on their character.

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