A Gift!

Just the same old drive home: the same big potholes; those bushes, these trees. Damp night air wafts in through the half-open window, scented with sage and dry grasses.

One hand grips the steering wheel; the other massages the same old, aching neck. A butter yellow moon casts its glow in the valley below; surrounding hills, like sentinels, keep their timeless watch.

Work shoes off, the same old, weary bare feet bask in the vented, fog-cooled air. Oh, me,...this same old, long drive home; up this hill, carefully navigating these blind curves, that…oh!…oh, goodness, can it be? I've...I've never seen one...!

There! By the side of the road…

A diminutive monkey-faced gentleman in downy white britches staring straight at me!

Saucer-eyes blink in the headlights, gazing and turning away, undismayed, undisturbed.

Tired neck forgotten; tears prickle, my heart soars. Seconds pulse with wonder, timeless and calm. A gift, a joyful gift, transcending words.

The Creator's gift…without price,
lavishly
p
o
u
r
e
d

out :

hallowed unity…with a barn owl!"