New Moon Mantra

Great Horned Owl, late fall, deep in the rugged terrain of Colorado’s Gore Range…he was high in a leafless aspen tree that was growing up from the bottom of a steep ravine. Somehow he allowed me to climb the side of the ravine until we were eye to eye. I think he must have been reciting Gwynneth’s mantra from the poem because my interfering presence never upset him! I sat there for a good half hour or more under lightly falling snow enjoying the sounds of the forest: the trickle of the stream below, a soft breeze singing through the pines, snowflakes coming to rest on my jacket. He would occasionally glance my way, and I would snap a photo. When it was time to move on, I thanked him and quietly slipped away. The last time I saw him, about a half mile away, he was still perched in his tree, at home, at peace, completely secure in his position. I wondered if he still saw me, too!