Owl Dreams

Owl Dreams

In the summer of 1972, my boyfriend and I moved in together. I wasn't planning on it, but I saw an ad for a furnished lease house for rent. I was a college student and ready to move out of my parent's home. I called the number from the ad and an elderly woman answered. She asked me to come to her home and meet her . When my boyfriend and I arrived, we noted her neat brick home in a well-to-do neighborhood. The woman introduced herself as Roberta and welcomed us into her air-conditioned living room. I gave her a list of references and petted her large white cat. We sat down in her living room filled with curios. We felt so grown-up though we were barely 19 years old.

She eyed my long dark braided hair and flowered skirt. Then questioned my boyfriend about his job. He was working in a piano shop as an apprentice and brought a pay stub to prove it. She showed us her stately old Steinway upright piano sitting across from us. Impressed by the boyfriend's knowledge of pianos she soon said we could rent the lease house. Hesitating, she asked what I did, once again eyeing my hippie clothes. I said I was attending the junior college and she smiled. She explained that there were actually three homes clustered in the middle of several hundred acres of cotton fields. We would be renting the smaller of the three. We would need to keep the lawn watered and mowed but had to be careful not to drain the shared well. We paid her a deposit of $75, then a month's advance rent of $75. After handing us the keys, we giddily drove to our new furnished home.

The house was located a few miles southwest of our town in the San Joaquin Valley. The southwest area spread out for miles in irrigated fields toward Los Angeles. Alfalfa, cotton, grapevines, fields of melons and carrots, citrus and nut trees flourished here in the cool winters and long hot summers. Our lease house was set in the middle of such a place, an oasis surrounded by old fan palms with elephant legs for trunks. Numerous huge eucalyptus trees sat in-between them; oleanders and bleeding hearts lined the walkway.

As we walked up to the house, I was struck by the coolness coming off the green lawn under the stately trees. Roberta's lease houses all had wrap-around screened in porches. Our house had a screened-in porch facing the north, ideal for enjoying an evening. Entering, we were astonished to see the clean perfectly neat home with furniture straight out of the 50's. We could hardly believe our luck.

It was a small home with one bedroom with an adjoining bathroom, a galley like kitchen and large dining room, and a large living room leading into the screened in porch. Big, cushioned living room chairs were set invitingly around a large, braided rug. In the dining room sat a formal dark wood dining room set with a matching long cupboard along the wallpapered wall. The bedroom held a double bed with two old dressers. I fell in love with the dear little house immediately.

Outside, a shed stood open with sprinklers, a push lawn mower, hoses, and other yard tools that hung neatly on the walls. We moved in with what little we owned and continued settling into our young lives. In the evenings, we could hear barn owl's making their short rasping call and sometimes, I swear they were purring to each other. In the afternoons, I enjoyed sitting and reading in the screened in porch with its old wicker chairs and table. I could also keep an eye on the sprinkler as I watered the lawn in front of it. We led a quiet life, studying and taking care of our little sanctuary.

Shortly after we moved in, on a particularly hot afternoon, I put out the sprinkler and turned on the water full blast. Turning to go into the house, I heard the sound of wing beating, followed by thumps. I stopped and looked back toward the sprinkler. A group of owls had landed on the grass near sprinkling water. They glanced my way for a moment but continued their bath in the cool water. I was afraid to move so stood, quietly captivated by these creatures with heart shaped faces frolicking in the water. I soon realized they had probably been doing this for years. The former renters had lived here for over a decade. Surely, they witnessed the showering owls. That is why they weren't concerned with me. I backed away and went inside to watch from the porch. The owls took their time cooling off before flying up into the palm trees. As time went on, I noticed when I watered the lawn in the afternoons, they appeared. Watering in the mornings or evenings didn't interest them. I found out too, that a group of owls were called a parliament because they are considered intelligent and wise.

September came and we finally felt comfortable enough to invite some friends over. We were sitting in our living room enjoying some wine and beer listening to records. It was the end of summer when evenings brought cool air in from the surrounding irrigated fields, so the windows stood wide open. As we were talking, we suddenly heard loud thumping noises on the roof directly above us. I turned off the record wondering what it could be. Soon, the sound of scratching and tapping began. Our perplexed and somewhat drunk friends decided to go outside to have a look. I led them out to our moonlit yard leading them away from the house to get a view of the roof. I pointed to silhouettes of barn owls cavorting on the roof. The owls were jumping in between and over each other, their wings flapping and swooshing. We wondered if someone had slipped us a psychedelic drug. Stunned, we watched as if in a trance. Someone said, get me a beer please. Someone else said, I'd like some wine. Another person said, is it breeding season? With that, the trance broke and one by one, the owls flew off to their perches in the nearby trees.

Like the owls, our friends decided they had enough magic for one evening in the countryside and forgot about their drinks. They left rather quickly; with a story to tell. We went to bed whispering to each other, falling asleep to the sound of raspy purring.