Who do you love?

When we lived in west Omaha in the house where I planned to spend the rest of my life, back in about 1986, we had a fabulous winter ice storm. Our lot backed up to the greenbelt. Everything back there was coated in sparkling ice like a set for the Snow Queen. Out front we were on a cul de sac. When the plow came through it scooped everything into a giant mountain of packed snow and ice for the kids to scale. I was pregnant and totally stressed out with two preschoolers and a nonsupportive spouse. Down at the end of the greenbelt behind the elementary school was a combination "rustic woods" and "educational outdoor learning center". I used to get so pissed off at my spouse and life in general that I would march off through the snow to the "woods". Once there I would slowly calm down and eventually realize there were owls in the trees staring at me. I would stare back, quieter and quieter. If I was too loud an owl would fly off down the Papio watershed, usually just a tad past me so I could feel the way it lifted all the air upwards. The owl and I would continue this provoke-and-fly along the creek until I was really cold, and I would regretfully turn back toward home. I would be back in touch with something beyond my mere mortal understanding, and spiritually fueled to face another day. I understood better why the ancient Greeks considered the owl the symbol for the wise goddess Athena.