I found a screech owl today. She was sitting at the edge of the road, barely moving but blinking her large yellow eyes every now and then to prove she wasn’t a stuffed animal that had fallen out of a stroller.
I got a box and brought the owl home and waited for the animal control officer to come deliver her to the local wildlife rescue center where, I hope, she will be nursed back to health. I mean, I assume she was hurt. Why else would an owl be sitting in the road? ( I also assume the owl was female but, really, I have no idea.)
It was such an odd thing, seeing that tiny owl there. I wondered if it was there for a reason, serving as a sign or an omen that I was supposed to somehow recognize.
So I searched the Internet to see if any of the various interpretations of owls in dreams, folklore, the Bible, even Wikipedia jumped out at me. Nothing did.
And then I realized that maybe the owl didn’t symbolize a thing; maybe the significance of finding the owl was simply that I noticed it.
I figured that the owl had been there for a few hours, taking her doomed last flight when it was still dark. Not at midday when I had found her. So how come none of the dozens of people who drove or walked past noticed her – or, at least – did something to help?
As part of my personal journey with yoga, I’ve dedicated myself in the last year or so to being less of a multi-tasker (even though I thought I was so good at it) and more present to the here and now. But lately, I’ve been struggling with that - feeling a little too rushed again and definitely as though I’m being pulled in different directions as I try to feed my spirit as well as my kids.
Maybe the owl showed me that despite life’s many distractions – they really can’t be avoided – it’s still possible to slow down, be present to the moment and see what’s on the side of the road.
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