Things that go HOOT in the night

“A wise old owl sat on an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren't we like that wise old bird?”

 
This morning, as I was deciding if I REALLY wanted to get out of bed, my eyes flew open as I heard a very close hoooo-hoooo-hoooo-hoooot.  There was an owl outside. RIGHT OUTSIDE.  I sat and listened  until I just HAD to get out of bed, or I was going to be greeting daycare kids in my pj's. As I was starting coffee, Tristen came flying out of his room to tell me about them and how they had woken him up.It was right outside his window. I was afraid he was a bit freaked out, becuase when I say they were RIGHT outside his bedroom window, THAT'S what I mean. RIGHT outside.   So we went and sat on his bed for a few minutes and just listened. There were actually 2 of them and it was pretty obvious they were talking to each other. I told T I was pretty sure it was a wife and a husband, and that the wife sounded irrated with her husband. I'm sure she was ready to head home and go to bed, and she just couldn't get her hubby to leave. ;)

Anyway,  after a comment made to me on Facebook this morning about an owl myth, it got me curious. So, I googled OWL MYTHS.

- If an owl lands on the roof of your house, it is an omen of death.(GULP!) Constant hooting near your house also foretells death.
-- If an owl hoots at the moment of childbirth, the child will have an unhappy life.

-- The Irish believe that if an owl flies into a house it must be killed immediately. If it escapes, it will take the luck of the house with it.

-- If an owl nests in an abandoned house, then the dwelling must be haunted. An owl is the only creature who can abide a ghost.

-- By eating salted owl, a person can be cured of gout.

-- If an owl hoots during a burial service, the deceased is bound to rise from the grave and haunt the living.

-- An owl living in the attic of a house will cause a pregnant woman to miscarry.

-- If a pregnant woman hears the shriek of an owl, her child will be a girl.

Pretty icky, huh?  All this dark dreary nonsense seems funny to me, because since I was a little girl, owls have reminded me of my Grandmother, who collected them. I associate them with her..love, wisdom, happiness.

BUT!! I also found THIS on the net, which I like MUCH better! =)

Throughout many cultures, the symbolic meaning of owl deals with:

• intelligence
• brilliance
• perspective
• intuition
• quick-wit
• independence
• wisdom
• protection
• mystery
• power

Native American tribes (primarily plains’ Indians) viewed the owl as a protector against harm and their feathers  were ritually worn to ward of evil spirits.
Ancient Athenians made the owl an emblem of wisdom and even emblazoned the image of the owl on their coinage.  To the ancient Greeks, the owl is a symbol of Athene who is goddess of foresight & knowledge.
Taking symbolism from the owl directly, it is noteworthy that it is a creature of the night.   Nocturnal creatures are symbolic of inner-knowing, psychic ability, and intuition – so too is the owl.
If an owl has visited you, an incredible gift has been bestowed.  Also, keep in mind that animals are only called to those who share the same energy.  In other words, you hold within you some of the very same symbolic attributes the owl represents.

Personally, I think they are beautiful and always get excited when I spot on sitting in the tree or when I hear one.

A few years back, probably a year or so after my granddad died, there were a pair that got stuck in the farm house. They had been nesting for years and years and years up in the roof and we thought we had plugged (at dark when they were suppose to be out hunting!) the hole they were using. There was part of the living room ceiling that caved in due to a roof leak by a picture window after a rain storm, and they ended up coming IN to the house, since we, apparently had trapped them INSIDE the roof.  The poor babies were upstairs, trying to get out one of the windows. Dad lovingly wrapped them up in towels, and set them free outside.

We thought that would be the end of of the owl story, but the eventually found their way BACK into the house, where they hatched many more babies, filling the old empty house with a dead animal smell from the meat they brought back to the nest for their babies and remained there for a few more years, until my brother put a brand new roof on the house.  Several times we would be out in the house and the sudden HIISSSSSSSS of  juvenile owl can make you become alert pretty darn fast when your alone in a big old creaky house, sorting through a box, and verrry slowly make you back up until you hit the doorway, where you turn around and run down the stairs like your life depended on it. 
3 years ago or so, Eric was tearing out the ceiling in the living room and found a nest. I'll never forget that beautiful white down covered chick, all puffed up hissing, thinking he was as big as a Rottweiler and he was going to eat us for lunch.   They got him out, and set him in the old chicken coop, where his mom and dad found him and where he lived until he was old enough to " fly the coop".

Eric still holds a grudge against those owls for all the mess and headache they caused him. I think we were blessed with the memories and for the close up opportunity to get to see these beautiful creatures.  I'm quick to remind him just how much his grandmother, who lived in the house he is now restoring, loved them.  

So, there's a bit of owl knowledge and a story for your Friday. Remember to stop and appreciate the fabulous world around you!! "HOOT" knows what you'll see or hear!