owl and the full moon

A big owl on a tiny branch as seen from my sleeping spot in the Tetons. The moon was positioned impeccably. I worked hard on this illustration to accurately capture what I saw, I did not have a camera with me. Click on this image for a HI-rez view.

Last night I saw a lone owl, and the experience was absolutely magical. I was in the Tetons alone, and I was sleeping out under the stars in one of the most beautiful meadows imaginable.

I travel in the mountains with a tiny pack on my back. I checked the weather before leaving home, and it said that it would be a clear night, and that means no tent and thus an even smaller pack. Plus I one it was going to be a full moon, and I just NEEDED to be out there! Last night, I set my pad down on the ground just at the point that it was getting too dark to hike anymore. There is nothing in the world I love more than just sleeping out under the stars. The full moon was rising in the east, and I watched it creep it’s way up above the big peaks. Right then, I was awash in awe and amazement.

A few minutes later I was lying in my sleeping bag with a book, I was reading THE HANDPRINT OF ATLAS by an author names Sesh Heri. (more on this soon, there is a LOT of syncho-intensity connected to the book and the author, for now I'll just say it's about cosmic and terrestrial alignments)

As I was reading with my headlamp, there was a visual swoosh of something right above my head, and I sort of jumped. I looked up to see a big bird land on in a nearby tree. The moon was full so I could clearly see the silhouette of an owl. It didn’t have the cat-like ear-tufts, so I am guessing (by it’s size) that it was a great gray owl. I'll add that it looked way too big to be perched on the spindly little branch on that dead tree.

I sat and watched it for maybe 10 minutes, and the entire time it was in a pose of scrutiny, it was looking right at me.

Now here is the amazing part, from where I was lying on the ground the tree with the owl was precisely back-lit by the full moon. The perfect symmetry was amazing! Right in that moment, I was very aware that I was seeing something spectacular. How and why it landed on that exact tree, when I was lying in that exact spot, and the full moon was in that exact point in the sky makes me think that something more was at work rather than just mere chance.

I was looking up from my sleeping bag and I asked a series of questions. What are you trying to tell me? Can you communicate with me? Why are all you owls showing up in my life. Is someone watching me through your eyes? If you wanna tell me something, I get good information through dreams (I’ll add that I didn’t have any dreams after that).

All those questions were asked out loud, addressing them directly to the owl.

When the owl did fly away, it actually sort of scared me. It flew directly AWAY from me, but that was impossible to tell in the dim light, so it looked like it was zooming right at me.

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More about the short trip:
I started hiking in the afternoon yesterday, and on my way into the mountains I saw a small black bear. It was along side of the trail eating huckleberries. It was a safe distance away, and it made for a wonderful sighting.

And - I started hiking very early this morning, just as the sun was coming up. I crested a hill, and there in front of me was a WOLVERINE! It looked at me for about 30 seconds, and then crossed my path and trotted off across the high alpine tundra. Dang, those things are fast! Just so you know, it is extremely rare to see a wolverine, and I felt perfectly blessed.

This image shows two, but I only saw one. It's coloring matched the top one.

Right ON

for my awesome

POWER ANIMALS!

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Also, check this out! Here's a little screen grab from an email reply from Anya Briggs on the subject of this very post. Note the time mark, 1234!