Horny Little Owl

Back in the 70’s when I was just a little girl, my sister and I would go stay the weekend with our paternal grandparents, my mother and father got a divorce when I was five. My grandparents had a small beautiful farm with an apple orchard to the left of the house. Right behind the house but built away from the house was a two car carport. In between the house and carport was a big big oak tree, with one big branch just high enough for a rope swing. The rope swing was very old, I think my grandpa had built the swing when my father and his sibling were very young. It also had to the right of the house, an old rustic red barn that I loved to play in. The old barn was a typical old barn, when you walked in the smell of fresh hay filled your nose. It has stalls for the horses and a couple for cows. At the back of the old rustic barn was my grandpa’s old John Deere tractor. It also had a loft that I would climb up to if I wanted to be alone. The loft had a bunch of hay in it and a couple of long tables full of tools.

The barn had an old fence running along the right side of it, there I would often see a little barn owl perched on one of the post. Well one day as I was walking to the barn, I noticed the little barn owl on the post and it seemed to be in some kind of fit. He was dancing on the post while he kept rustling his feathers. I slowly walked into the barn, climbed up to the dusty loft and went to the windowing that side to watch this little barn owl. On the other side of that old fence is a little path, then some beautiful bushes with assorted color small flowers on them and the dark scary woods. Well, as I watched the little owl do his little dance, prancing around the post top, while rustling his feathers, I could have sworn I heard him talking! So I carefully opened the window, being very careful as not to make that old window squeak, and sure enough I could hear that little barn owl saying, “Whooo...I so restless, I so restless, what am I to do I’m so restless...whoo”. I couldn’t believe my ears, that little barn owl was speaking. How could this be? Was I dreaming or going crazy. Then I seen a little white breast lark walking along the path. I seen the little barn owl looking at her too. Next thing I knew the little barn owl swooped down and caught the little white breast lark, then took the lark into the bushes. I could see the bushes shake, then the little white breast lark came out and said “I’m a lark and I’ve been sparked and I liked it.” Then the little barn owl got back on the post and started dancing again and I could still hear him saying, “Whooo...I so restless, I so restless, what am I to do I’m so restless...whooo”. About that time a little silver feathered dove came walking down the path, as soon as the little barn owl seen the beautiful silver dove, he swooped down caught the dove and took her to the bushes and the bushes shook and shook. Then the little silver feathered dove came out and said, “I’m a dove and I’ve been loved and I liked it”.

It was quite a few minutes before the little barn owl came swooping to his post and started doing his feather dancing and still saying he’s restless. After a few minutes a little green head duck came down the path from the other way. It took the little barn owl a few seconds to see the little green head duck and what did that owl do, yup...swooped down and caught it. Took it to the bushes and the bushes just shook, shook and shook some more. By that time the little green head duck came out and said, “I’m a drake, there’s been a mistake and I did not like it”.