Friday, August 29, 2008

A HOOT OF OWLS

Owl Teapot by Leanne Pizio

"A Barred Owl"

The warping night-air having brought the boom
Of an owl's voice into her darkened room,
We tell the wakened child that all she heard
Was an odd question from a forest bird,
Asking of us, if rightly listened to,
"Who cooks for you?" and then "Who cooks for you?"

Words, which can make our terrors bravely clear,
Can also thus domesticate a fear,
And send a small child back to sleep at night
Not listening for the sound of stealthy flight
Or dreaming of some small thing in a claw
Borne up to some dark branch and eaten raw.


Stone Owl Sculpture by John Philip Capello

Looking at the stone sculpture by John Philip Capello makes me think of a little altercation I had with my mom during my early teens. I can distinctly hear my mother's voice rising up from behind me. "Robyn, what on earth are you doing?"


Horror of all horrors........ caught red handed. ....mincing fieldmice... fur...tails...bones and all .....in mom's mincer. I had 2 hungry owlets that had to be fed. Our induna's children had brought me several limp field mice they had caught caught in primitive tin can traps that very morning. These they usually roasted on sticks over a fire before eating them...with relish I might add. But today they had "gifted" the mice to me in exchange for sweets. Anyway after mom looked into her mincer and saw the mangled mess of mouse I was threatened within an inch of my life so had to revert to wrapping minced beef in cottonwool to feed my hungry pets. Such is life growing up on a farm.

Wire Owl by Elizabeth Berrien


I posted this Stainedglass Owl by Jay Gubitz for Chris over at Shady Grove

Picasso Owl Print

27 comments:

  1. Oh that teapot is just tooo amazing! And I love those Picasso prints - I bought my ex the doxie one once and the owl is just as wonderful! (And glad to see this post is at a decent hour!)

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  2. Oh Robyn...what you did!!! I am smiling from here to you!!! Your poor mother!!! Ahh those mice!!! I will never look at my mincer the same way again.
    Your passion for caring for these owlets stands out the most though!!! Superb...BTW like the rest too:)

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  3. Poor little owl babies..forced to eat cotton wool. The things you do for your loved ones. I'd have been right there at the mincer..such a good story.

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  4. oh my Robyn - what a post - I'm more of an urban girl, so the description of you 'mincing up a bit of mouse' in your mom's mincer gave me quite a start! i'm totally for the little wee owls getting micey bits from you though - hurrah for them - you are a wonderful story teller!

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  5. I love your story (you devil you!)and I love your various owls. My favourite is the wire owl. My grandmother had an expression that always made me laugh because it was so bizarre: You're red as a boiled owl!

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  6. We are fortunate to have both barred owls,screech owls and great horned owls around our home. And even more fortunate that they get their own food!

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  7. I love Richard Wilbur and just bought a book of his poetry this week!!

    This Pizio teapot is just too, too cool!!! I want it. ;)

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  8. What a funny story. Thank you so much for the stained glass owl. They are all so lovely! I adore owls. Years ago I was in the Rocky Mountains at night. An owl, almost 3 feet tall, was standing by the road. We spooked it with our approach and it glided off with one swoop of it's wings over the side of the road. It was so majestic.

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  9. you have a most unusual and interesting blog which i will be frequenting from now on.
    and thank you for dropping by.

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  10. Heather, I just love that teapot too. It's so eyecatching with the scrafito effect and the barn owl is perfect for it.
    P.S. I won't tell you what time I was up this morning. We are off to the farmers market again so wanted a few hours on the internet before we leave.

    Jo,my mother had to endure many animally things including a tipped over bucket of snakes only discovered after they were all dispersed throughout the house.

    Grrl, glad you understand :-)

    Jeanne, you do what ya gotta do!

    Kate, I've never heard that expression before. I wonder where it came from. Willow?

    Pamella, living on the outskirts of town now, we don't get too many owls. I really miss country life.

    Willow, that is so strange that you should have ordered the book. I have only just discovered his poetry.

    Chris, I can see that image so clearly. Owls gliding off so magestically.

    Priya, I was thinking the same thing about your blog. See you at tHe pluM tRee soon.

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  11. Love the owl artwork - - and being a birdwatcher am partial to owls. Even lead guided hikes so people can enjoy these absolutely marvelous birds. We usually see Barred Owls and their call is absolutely wonderful (so is the E. Screech) - thanks for sharing.
    Splash in TX

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  12. Anonymous, thanks for the comment. Posting about owls makes me realize how much I miss seeing them. We see Long Crested Eagles daily but no owls.

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  13. this is so timely because an owl was outside on monday night hooting for hours. there wasn't an answering call, just one owl, hoo, hoo, hoo, hooing... i kept wondering what his (her?) purpose was... or was it hoo hooing just for the joy of it?! but gee, maybe he was asking 'who cooks for you, who cooks for you?' -- waiting for an answer that never came!!

    woman after my own heart feeding your owlets so tenderly... to this day i treat jumping spiders with extra kindness to try and make up for all of the ones i fed to my chameleon years ago...

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  14. Lynne, you make me laugh. I love the thought of you frog jumping after spiders.

    June, it really appeals to me too.

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  15. Bucket of snakes in the house? You are a girl after my own heart.

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  16. Such stunning owl art! What a funky teapot and the stained glass owl- what a presence she must have. I can't get over the work, and left-brain figuring that must have gone into putting her together.

    Very much in love with that print of Picasso's work. What perfect lines! *thrill!*

    I'm biased to take your side on the whole blender issue, then I imagine my blender containing a mouse shake and I'm not so certain... lol. I guess the damage was done. No way I'd want to use it again and at least it went to a good cause.

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  17. hello robyn,i love that tea pot and the drawing of the owl.your story is hilarious of your mom and the mice in the mincer.hahhaha (i wonder what your mom did with the mincer after)

    i love your blog:))

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  18. damned what a story!!
    It's way bizarre to wrap beef into cotton-wool, isn't it ;))
    And what a beautiful owl-collection!
    I love this tea-pot!

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  19. Number 1-I'm in love with the owl teapot and the wire sculpture.

    Number 2-I'm fascinated and kind of creeped out by the poem, but mostly I love it too.

    Number 3-If you had been my daughter, I would have had to kill you for doing that in my blender. And then you would have had to buy me another because I certainly would never had been able to use that one again.

    Number 4-I'm amazed to think of you having owlets for pets.

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  20. I love your story of mincing the mice. Wow, I really admire your spunk! thanks for sharing the beautiful art. I also love your birds on the last posts. Our robins are so different here... Roxanne

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  21. Chris, the bucket of snakes (one of many) belonged to my brother. Quite a story there too!

    Shayla,...a mouseshake?...ohhhh dear, for the first time I feel the shudders my mom must have felt.

    meghu punater, I'm glad you enjoyed that! By the way it was a hand mincer and mom couldn't/wouldn't use it again. I have parts of it and have used bits in my totems! Actually I think they are even called bits...

    Uschi, amazing how the cottonwool did the trick too!

    Stevie..LOL...are you sure there's not a number 5?

    Roxanne, I'm so glad you enjoyed the post.

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  22. What a wonderful childhood it must have been on that farm.Thanks for sharing all the images of the owl.Love the teapot.

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  23. I am relieved that the mice were already dead. I was worried for a moment!!! Lovely owls, all.

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  24. Embellisher, I had a very happy childhood and I miss country life a lot.

    Kerri, that's the one thing I couldn't do. Feed the owls live mice.

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  25. You have had a very interesting life my dear. I love that you had the "guts" to do that.Good for you...

    You know I love owls.. and Love the selection you have chosen.

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  26. nice owl pics. if you like owls head over to yarnowlmusic.com
    some good music for people who like my morning jacket, death cab for cutie, and fleet foxes.
    cheers

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