Long Hollow

The puppies were pouncing in tall grass, chasing some tiny unseen prey.

It made me laugh, but it was time to get home so I wouldn't be late for work. So, calling them to follow, I turned to continue down our path…and that's when I saw it: an owl sitting on a low branch not ten feet away, looking over his shoulder at us, I'm sure wondering when the heck we were going to leave. 

He was within perfect range of my 50mm lens, and with its wide aperture, the low light wouldn't have been a problem. 

However, staying true to Murphy's Law, I had switched to my kit lens for the first time in months right before heading out, hoping to get some macro shots of the wildflowers toughing it out on these scorching, dry summer days.

So my photos of the owl are pretty sorry. I wish you could see the look he's throwing us.

Later on in the evening, as dusk fell on the trees across the creek from our house, Tom spotted him again.

I popped on my zoom lens, but didn't anticipate any good shots, since he was pretty far away and the light was weak. So I was pleasantly surprised that the photos came out as well as they did. 

 

Here it is again, cropped to zoom in a little…

That is one big owl, isn't it?! I'm guessing it's a Great Horned Owl, but any owl experts out there, feel free to correct me.

I realize owls are pretty common in some areas, but this was a first for me, and as usual when I see another of God's creatures up close, it just feels…well…pretty sweet!

Here are a few other sweet!s from my past week…

Monday: purple sage blossoms; a walk with your puppies at dusk

Tuesday: making 100 on your fifth real estate course exam; resting on a summer afternoon with your baby girl; having 2 of your kids home, even though your house is beginning to look like a warehouse

Wednesday: time before work to walk your puppies; meeting a young blogger; margherita pizza; paychecks; friends who drop in to visit your parents

Thursday: a slow day at work so you can study your real estate flash cards; pork chops hot off the grill, courtesy of your son; Ryan Gosling movies

Friday: a day off; your kids helping you find your old errant puppy; getting help carrying the groceries down to the house; watching the sun set, listening to Shake Russell, sipping wine, studying your real estate flash cards in your rocking chair on the back deck until it's too dark to see

Saturday: spotting an owl in your hollow, twice in one day; helping a friend celebrate her 50th birthday; dancing in an airplane hangar

Sunday: sunlight through stained glass windows, splashing reds and blues on the carpet; bumblebees; hearing that your son and daughter-in-law visited your parents when they were in Houston for a friend's wedding

What were some of your sweet! surprises from the past week? I hope in this coming week you find one every time you turn around!

‎"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is
beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting – a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in
every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it
as a cup of blessing."

 ~Ralph Waldo Emerson