Stars and Owls

A warm day in the 80s with blue skies gave way to a quickly cooling night with dark skies that brought out the stars in abundance. The Milky Way was a white smudge across the sky from the south to the north. Cygnus the Swan, the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, and the Pleiades were easily seen. While walking and watching, I heard a screech owl. I called back and after a few minutes, I had him on a branch not more than 10 feet away. It was dark, so only the silhouette was visible. While not time for a meteor shower, three white streaks from shooting stars crossed the sky over a twenty minute period. It was quite wonderful. After the screech owl left and was gone for 20 minutes or so, a great horned owl began hooting about fifty yards away. I returned home to work with some fond memories of owls and shooting stars. A night to remember for years to come, I'm sure.