“People say the darkness is where secrets are best hidden. Night time brings clarity and focus to owls, even if the aperture of this vision comes with a stigma.” ― Kimberly Morgan

Looks like we will be spending some time with this one, talking about today, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Just for those who are into ornithology, I wanted to report an actual siting of one of two nesting barn owls in our area. I and Mr. Bentley made an outside visit on his behalf around 10:30 p.m. last Tuesday. While he was doing his forever sniffing and snorting in trying to find 'his spot', I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and the big owl landed on the framework of a street light pole less than half a block away. It just sat up there. It looked pretty thick and maybe it was doing some sonar scope sweeps of the area. It had a pronounced white belly, therefore, I believe it to be the Texas Barn Owl, as seen in the photo. The wife told me the owl was welcome to have as many as it likes of the tunnel making moles. The owl was still sitting on that perch when we came back into the house. Mr. Bentley never saw him. He is, however, highly distracted whenever Mr. Owl in one patch of woods is speaking loudly in code to Mrs. Owl, (Or Miss.), and she in return voices back some code to him. Mr. Bentley loses his ability to concentrate whenever the loud cooing is permeating the night airwaves. He sometimes looks up at me and seems to be saying, "Can't you tell them to knock it off."  And, for those inquiring minds, no, I have no intention of starting a wildlife series on YouTube anytime soon. Thank you very much.

Please don't write and ask if I have any idea about the deep meaning implied in the title I chose today. It used night and owls as a metaphor, therefore, I grabbed it. If you want to know more you will have to check with the lady who said it. I have never disclaimed the fact of how I can be, at times, a slow learner. We have been mostly at home and mostly in our house since March. It dawned on me the other day why we go through so much food here. I know. The obvious joke: You know you have a problem when you step on the scales and it says, 'One at a time please.' We have that proof here in case you wondered. But, think about it, we have typically two to two and one half-prepared meals per day and snacks too. I have found myself standing and looking into the refrigerator. Just standing there. Looking. I can hear my mom, "Son, nothing has changed since the last time you looked just a few minutes ago." In fact, I can hear me saying the exact same thing to our boys. There's no telling how many quarantine related conditions will be recognized when and if we get through this. They are already working on it. I looked through some of a paper written with this title: The Psychological Impact of Quarantine and How to Reduce It. This work product included 24 different papers written on the subject. I can see it now. The lawyer ads will be coming to a media outlet near you. "Friends, have you been injured by the imposition of these lockdowns and quarantines, call us today to see if you qualify for financial relief." If that happens, don't forget, you read it here first. 

One lady said she washes up all her different sets of pajamas on Sunday. That way she has her work clothes ready to go for the week. I asked the wife one day about makeup. She said there's little need because once you don the mask no one can see if you have it on or not. Unless you are a recognized wordsmith, you might not be familiar with using the word don as a verb. Just to be clear, here is the information on it, "don, a transitive verb as in to put on (an article of clothing) donned his hat and gloves or to wrap oneself in." You probably remember that line from the Christmas song, "Don we now our gay apparel." Another lady reported how real the stress has been for her and the kids during the isolation. She said her young daughter one day asked if she had been adopted to which the mom replied, "Not yet honey, I only put the ad out yesterday." It's pretty hard to have a birthday party these days. You can sing happy birthday but due to contamination concerns, no one is allowed to blow out the candles. As far as social distancing is concerned, I might want to start with practicing it with my refrigerator and the cabinet where the snacks are stored. One commentator guessed we would come out of this stay-at-home scenario with two different outcomes: Some brand new excellent cooks or Some with a new drinking problem. Another person said they so looked forward to taking out the trash each week and deciding what they will wear. Okay. I likely overstayed my welcome, but, hopefully, there was something that helped us all to deal with the far too much frowning we find ourselves engaged in. Until next time, may God bless. Amen. .....More later.