My family and I have become fascinated by Barn Owls. We are enjoying watching a Barn Owl family on a nature cam located somewhere in Northern California. We found a YouTube channel called SVNature, with its ‘owl cam live,’ and we’ve been watching since the first owlet hatched. What an amazing way to learn about owls!  By checking in on them numerous times a day, we have become very attached to these fluffy little dinosaur-like owlets and their patient and attentive parents.

We also discovered an interesting program about Barn Owls on Nature – PBS, called “Owl Power,” and learned a lot more about these amazing birds. And then, because as you all know when you get interested in something you find all kinds of connections and information around you that you hadn’t noticed before, I remembered that I actually have a book sitting on my shelf with two beautiful Barn Owls on the cover. It’s called The Owl Papers, by Jonathan Evan Maslow, and it looks fascinating! I don’t know why it sat there unread for so many years, but it is definitely time to read it.

“With a naturalist’s eye and a poet’s soul, Mr. Maslow pursues owls through history, literature and myth. A superb and utterly fascinating book.”

~ The New York Times

It’s pretty obvious that the reason I became a teacher 30 years ago is because I love to learn. I do love finding new interests and then experiencing the web of connections to that new interest that surround us all. Who knows where this little parliament of owls will lead me?