The owl and the pussycat

I was reminded recently of this 'ditty' or nonsense poem by Edward Lear, first published during 1871 as part of his book Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets. Click here to read the entire poem

A rather fury pea-green boat

 The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
   In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
   Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
   And sang to a small guitar
'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
   What a beautiful Pussy you are,
       You are,
        You are!
   What a beautiful Pussy you are!

I recently received one of the most charming 'animal' videos in an email recently. I really encourage you to click on it here to view. Sometimes nature shows us how 'uncomplicated' life can be and invites us to re-jig our preconceptions of cats and birds - or should I say an owl and a pussycat!

Now I'm rather drawn to owls since a haunting 'experience' I had when staying in a chateau in the south of France a few years ago. The wind came up in the dead of night so I decided to close the shutters. As I moved to the moon-lit window I was stunned to see an owl swoop towards me and hover just out of reach for what seemed like an eternity as we eyeballed each other.  He/she was so close that I thought he was going to come right into my bedroom. And then he swooped off before returning for a second look! And then with a hoot I can still hear he turned and flew towards the moon! Yes really. It was a most unnerving experience. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing upright! I finally closed the shutters and crept back to bed but sleep alluded me. He seemed to be hovering whilst I tried to dream.

This is the watch-bird watching you!! (dzineblog.com)

I think about 'my owl' often and have even begun a small collection of owls as a reminder of that strange and eerie moon-lit night in the beautiful French countryside. All I can wish for is that he was a wise old owl - I just haven't worked out his message yet - although perhaps it was to say - "please don't sleep in the nude - it's a sight to behold"!! But I'd like to think that it had more meaning than that!