Welcome to our Backyard

Please welcome guest blogger Mark:

Who, Who, Who knew it was my birthday? (please take note of the title of this post)

In April 2005, Elder Bednar of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, "...I have reflected repeatedly upon the phrase 'the tender mercies of the Lord.' Through personal study, observation, pondering, and prayer, I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ." (emphasis added)

For my Birthday, God, with the help of Simon, gave me one cool tender mercy! We had just pulled into our driveway after satiating ourselves at Red Robin -- our go-to place for birthdays in Houston! Simon hopped out of the car and said, "Owl, Owl, Owl, DAD, Owl, Owl!" To be honest I kind of ignored him because I thought he was saying, "Ow, Ow, Ow ..." An often heard phrase around here as younglings tend to injure themselves in mostly harmless ways as they grow into their bodies. Simon: "No Dad, an owl! Up there. In the tree!" And sure enough, just 5-8 feet above my head was the well-marked, unmistakeable oval-like spectre my mind expects to see upon hearing the word "owl." But this one was so close -- I had never been that close to a wild owl! It was beautiful. If ever the words "silence"or "shadow" were permitted to take shape surely they would organize themselves into an owl.

Then Simon again: "Dad, another owl! A baby!" And of course, per Simon's observation, onto the trunk of a smaller palm tree-like plant in our front yard clung another owl, much younger, with gray down feathers and nascent ear tufts that actually seemed to break up its symmetric oval shape and camoflauge it against the branches and leaves. Like Emily said, the baby almost looked like a koala bear -- more mammal than bird. The hatchling (probably older?) was no more that 3-4 feet above the ground and let the kids and I get within a foot or two of it to look closely at its beak and claws. The mother (we assume) in the branch above my head calmly, almost inaudibly, called to the baby with what our Audobon book perfectly describes as "a tremulous descending wail." To Emily it sounded almost like the neighing of a miniature horse. I agreed.

Then, again, Emily: "Another one. The Dad." Above us, maybe twenty feet or so, another adult owl landed on a branch. And next to it another owl! The fourth owl was slightly older than the baby clinging to the tree below the mother. Four owls! This was better than a nature video -- our pictures prove it! We couldn't believe it. It had to be a tender mercy from a loving God. What are the chances that we would pull into our driveway right at that exact moment, when four owls decided to land within perfect viewing distance? It really was special. I am so glad Simon spotted them. What a great birthday gift -- there is nothing like viewing, appreciating, and reverencing nature. There's something calming about it. Those little owls go through so much. Where have they been? What do they eat? Why was the baby so near to the ground? (We went out later to make sure she had flown away or at least climbed back up into the safety of high branches ... she was no where to be found).

In case you are wondering: our crepuscular (love this word; look it up) visitors were Eastern Screech-Owls (yes, there is a hyphen), no more than 7-10 inches tall. Absolutely amazing. Oh, and I had to put Matt's Birthday Card on the blog too (please take note of the burning candle on the "king tyrant lizard's" rostrum)!