A Few of the Many Blessings

The discussion about naming my scooter has gone on for days. Court is a professional sign painter and an excellent water colorist with a taste for pimping his rides. On a drive back from town the discussion had come up again. A girlfriend who recently purchased the identical bike to mine had suggested that we now constituted a club of two and tossed out the idea of naming us The VagaBroads. (The jury is still out on that name.) We discussed possible names for the scooter herself. We were laughing about possible names when Court suggested that he could paint a set of hooters on the scooter. As soon as I heard those words I knew I had a name. In a rush of excitement I declared to Court and the world at large that he wouldn't be painting boobies on my bike but that my scooters’ name was Hooter. No sooner were the words out of my mouth than a barn owl in spread wing attack mode chasing a small prey bird swooped past the windshield of the truck from my side to Court’s.

We live surrounded by winged ones but the owl is a rare bird to spot on any day. The feeling of being in the perfect space, time and place is wondrous. We both knew how momentous the occasion had just become. Without hesitation I thanked the owl and Gaia and Hooter the scooter for coming together in such a magical way. Our ride continued with a new air of reverence. I asked Court and he’s agreed to paint an owl spread winged like we’d seen across the nose of my bike. We’ll work together designing a stylized set of owl wings and eyes.


I became aware of owl medicine in my life as a thirty something year old single mother of three boys. I leased a four acre chunk of a larger acreage from a local dairy farmer, rejuvenating old gardens and cherishing the heritage farm buildings with all my heart. A female owl nested in the barn every year of the six years we lived there. She hunted the pasturage surrounding us so quietly she was rarely seen. The boys understood that she wasn’t to be disturbed on the nest; when she left we’d collect feathers and examine debris at the base of her nest. I remain in awe that so majestic a winged wise one and I share medicine.

If you see an owl in picture or on the wing...if you hear an owl hooting...know that we’re together in Owl space, time and place.