a reply to:
Kandinsky
Following is one of the more memorable moments of my life…involving an owl (
or – Two).
If going this route seems to detract from the direction/flow of the thread, please let me know (
in sufficient time), and I will
remove/amend it…
~~~~~~~~~
Nov/2005…something happened to me…in the middle of the desert…mud-logging an 18,000' well…
I normally worked a 24-hour shift…was relieved, then relieved my reliever…who was also the one I relieved (
usually)…for another
24…
The well was nearing completion…five-hundred-or-so feet to go…and, it was the time of the year when my reliever took his annual 2 or 3 week
vacation…
The morning I was to relieve him for the last time before he vacated…he called and said I should come prepared for two…or even three
days…without relief…and the well should be complete (as far as we were concerned).
I got frisky…and took changes of clothes, food & drink…for 5 days…
It turned into 11 days…
Most of those days, I sat, doing nothing but…wait…as they would lose a drill bit…and have to fish…or motors would go out…tripping-out to
change bits…and gaining no progress with the new bit…and tripping to change again..."Sour Egg Gas" alarms sounding…sending everyone to their
vehicles…upwind…waiting to see if the high priest's bell would stop tolling… …etc…
Much of my days were spent walking around the grated work-site…on its perimeters…often including walks into the mesquite and cactus that
surrounded on all sides…
Sometimes, throughout the day…I'd get glimpses of these two very small owls…that generally stayed two-hundred feet or more from the perimeter of
the brush…
At night, though, I could almost always see at least one of them…playing among the bushes nearest the grated perimeter…
I wanted to see them…up close… So, I started talking to them…every time I would see them…even if they were too far to hear me…I
believed…they knew…I was looking at them…
I had a number of books…of various genres (
mostly - non-fiction)…writing tablets…and my laptop…
It was pretty cool at night…in the trailer…
I had just finished watching some religious shows…but…was at the climax…(
didn't know it at the time)…of an intense
quest…and was writing it out…as I went…
All the answers…I had found…seemed to be pointing at…one…question…
I asked… …
But…before answering…since this was the kind of question that my religion taught…might end my life…I reconsidered…over and over and
over…whether…to give an honest answer…
Because…I believed…if my honest answer…was wrong…God could kill me.
So – hedging my bet…I prayed - "If You love me…and would send me to Hell…for honestly answering that I don't believe…that
story…then…I'm ready…"
I wrote my answer…
My heart began to palpitate…like it was coming out of my throat…or stomach…
I couldn't breathe…
Other symptoms of heart attack…overtook me…in a growing spasm…
I was in the Mud-logging trailer…away from everyone…no-one could have heard me call…
I did not want to kill my laptop…but couldn't find a way…to get out of the old recliner…and…with a heave, I tried to push the laptop from my
lap to the coffee table directly in front (
didn't make it)…knocking over a mostly-full mug of coffee…and with the same
motion…tried rolling out of the chair…hoping to roll to one of the doors…etc…
As I hit the floor, in a roll…I recall thinking - "If You're going to kill me for this…I want to be standing up…outside…"
I rolled to the westernmost door…managed to get the screen door open…but couldn't reach up, again, to the outer doorknob…so, I rocked into the
door…it burst open…and I tumbled down the steps…to the dirt…
While tumbling down the steps…I tried to see if anyone might have seen…but…only got glimpses…of the areas where such sightings might occur…
before coming to a stop…
I lay for…I don't know how long…
No-one saw…or came…
My left side continued to say I was dying…
So…I tried massaging it…with my right hand……trying to soothe the muscles around my chest…neck, shoulder, arm…wrist…hand… …
I wasn't having much success…and was wishing someone could help rub below my left shoulder…and was trying every way I could to reach that huge
knot…
At some point…I gave up, trying…
I couldn't do anything…I thought I'd just wait until someone found me…or I died.
I do not recall what happened next…or when it happened…only that the next thing I
do recall, was… standing up …brushing the dirt
off…and starting to cry.
I didn't want to be anywhere-near…inside…anything…
So - I walked to the furthest tip of cleared land…with no residual pain…and virtually forgetting the preceding trauma…
I saw one of the two small owls flying just above the mesquite…and then, alighting on the end of a stack of pipes…a little further to the west,
and about 50 to 100 yards to my right (north).
I don't know how long I stood…watching… But…was
so happy to see it…and, I asked…in normal voice, (
the owl could not
have heard…with drilling resumed) "May I look?"
The owl began adjusting its perch – preparing to take flight…and, unbelievably, it began flying directly toward me…
It was coming pretty fast.
I was getting ready to duck for cover, thinking it might actually strike or claw/talon me – but, instead – about 10 feet away, its progress
stopped, and it went into a hovering flutter about 5 feet higher than my head…
It continued to hover, letting me view its breast, belly and fluttering wings.
I spoke to it – primarily thanking it for the view, and saying how beautiful it was…
I began to grow anxious about what was actually happening – as this was way beyond my understanding of how the world works…
I broke gaze…and – it flew off into the darkness.
~~~~~~~~~
Back on topic --- I have wondered if we (
humans) don’t have some internal noise-cancelling mechanism…like some recent improvements
in headphones…
How many times I’ve lain in bed – with the alarm sounding constantly for 15+ minutes…
How many times the timer/clock on the oven goes off…and you don’t notice (
because you are reading or thinking about something
else) ‘til the smell of burning food pulls you out of the daze…
In part – I think the OP takes this to another level…that is not explained by such a ‘mechanism’ …since, one is questioning ‘The
Silence’ in the midst of it all… Nevertheless – it may be something to consider.