Our sleep was interrupted abruptly last night by an animal
sound that wasn’t immediately recognizable as mammal or fowl. It was both bark
and squawk and seemed to be right under our window. I lifted the lightness of
my comforter swinging my legs over the edge of the bed with great care setting
my feet softly on the carpet. The squawking kept up. It sounded like I could
reach out and touch it, but I was nothing. So I moved through the house as
stealthily as I knew how to another window. And while I could not see it, it much
have seen me. It cleared out with three recognizable and telltale hoots; a
great gray owl nearly in our bedroom. The summer began and ended with owls; fledgling
great horned owls to start and now a great gray to finish.
