Music of the Spheres
We made our loop around the pasture path as the fog rose up from warm earth, lifted and tattered, then hugged the ground only to lift and spread once more--a thing coming alive as the day gave way to night.
As we reached the barn, we turned to look behind us at the changeling fog. The moon had risen over the ridge suddenly, as if the earth had lurched a notch on its great cogwheel while our backs were to it, and brilliance startled and thrilled us as we turned to admire it, moonstruck.
As if on cue with our turning to attend it, the chorus began. First, and close, a single screech owl offered his staccato lament near Nameless Creek. Another further down the valley answered and the two comingled their sad duet a half minute before another joined in from some dark tree south along the ridge.
As our ears adjusted to the rhythm and resonance of their conversation--a kind of night-hearing not unlike night vision in its slow adaptation--we began to pick out at least a half dozen of these small night-feeding raptors together in antiphonal song, a community of screech owls in union-- six that we could hear, the last of them so far off it was barely audible to us, but loud and clear to six more to the south, and six more beyond that.
Perhaps we were standing at the very edge of a collective song as wide as Floyd County; bigger than that, perhaps, as owls are not respecters of human municipalities or maps.
Connection. The feeling of being connected to the orbit of moons, the turning of the earth and it tilts to a new season, joined with a fraternity of owls whose conversation consisted of a single phrase, over and over. I am here. So am I. And on and on across our valley, the world, and the cosmos.
Comments
Well, this is just about the finest photo I've ever seen on the internet. Very nicely done. It's even better (I must confess) than the picture of you on the cover of the magazine.
Posted by: pablo | October 7, 2006 6:40 AM
A most breath-taking photo this morning. I love that you are now including pictures with nearly all of your daily blogs. As I read and also gazed at the photo I could also hear the screech owls. Mary
Posted by: Mary C | October 7, 2006 10:35 AM
Your words lure us quietly into the picture. We step closer and closer to the silence. We actually begin to hear the connections being borne on the echoes of the fog.
Beautiful post. The photo is undeniably magnificent.
Posted by: ntexas99 | October 7, 2006 12:41 PM
What everybody else said! X 2
Posted by: kenju | October 7, 2006 5:59 PM
A gorgeous photo, and surely this is what existence is about - being connected with the natural world around us, owls, deer, moles, trees, water and old stones, to name just a few. Some of my best conversations are with owls, trees and old stones. . . .
Posted by: KerrdeLune (Cate) | October 7, 2006 9:33 PM
hi fred,
as always, i find exactly what i need when i come to your pages. thank you for your unchanging, yet so dynamic existence.
blessings, more than words can say.
susannah
Posted by: susannah eanes | October 8, 2006 5:38 PM
What a wonderful photo! I grew up next door in Montgomery County and have lived too far from the mountains for many years. Your site, with apologies to John D., takes me home, country road.
Posted by: O. J. | October 8, 2006 7:29 PM
I can only agree with what other have said. This is a most magnificent photo.
Posted by: Dave | October 9, 2006 8:50 AM
magical and surreal! i'd buy that print if you ever made it available (which might be a future venture?)
Posted by: amy f. | October 9, 2006 8:20 PM
I've worked with an enlargment of this image and it prints nicely, so am going to offer it for purchase. Would make a very nice Christmas gift. More details coming to the front page of FFF tomorrow (Wednesday 11 Oct.)
Posted by: fred1st | October 10, 2006 7:36 AM
I love the sensitive mood here, the description of the owls. Nights in the forest are such an exquisite event. I will link this article on one of my posts today, to share your artistry.
Posted by: Bonita | October 10, 2006 4:36 PM