When I was a little girl my favorite field trips were always to places that we got to be in the wild and zoos. I was actually on one of the first field trips to go to Sandy Creek Nature Center when it first opened. I was maybe in the second grade? There’s a picture of me at the water fountain that was on the cover of the Athens Banner Herald the next day.
But, I digress, one of my favorite places to go as a kid was to the Memorial Park Zoo. I particularly loved the Skunk and The Great Horned Owl. I liked the Skunk because no one else did. I liked the Great Horned Owl because when it looked at me I felt like it knew me and saw me.
I actually remember this one time in particular I was standing to the side of its enclosure feeling a little sad that something so beautiful lived inside a cage. At the time I didn’t really understand that the animals there could not live in the wild any longer and the Last Unicorn was my absolute favorite movie. Nonetheless, I felt connection in my heart. When it turned its head slowly in my direction I felt like we understood one another - not in an adult over thinking it kind of way, but through the magical lense a child looks at the world. You know what I mean. We’ve all had those moments.
I haven’t really changed all that much. When the Great Horned Owl who lives in our new neighborhood hoots just outside our windows I get all giddy inside like the most distinguished guest in the neighborhood has just payed us a visit. I mean, look at them. They are so stinking cool. Maybe in my next life I will have the pleasure of coming back as an owl..