Owl In The Trees

Seeing an owl in the wild has always been on my bucket list. Every night, when I take my dogs out for the final time before bed, I hear them hooting in the dark. It is a haunting, beautiful sound, though it is always hard to gauge exactly how close or far away they are. I’ve often panned a flashlight into the woods, imagining a glint of "owl eyes," but they always remain elusive.

That changed during a walk in the preserve near my home. My husband and I, along with our two dogs, came upon a baby owlet on the ground just a few feet from the base of a massive tree. We kept moving so as not to alert the dogs, but I immediately called wildlife rescue for advice. Their instructions were clear: leave the bird exactly where it was, as the mother would be nearby watching over it.

We returned to the spot later that day, just the two of us. We were encouraged to see that the owlet had moved himself to a more protected spot at the base of the trunk. As we took note of his new location, the mother owl suddenly swooped down close to us—a silent, powerful warning to leave her baby alone. It was a breathtaking moment and a vivid reminder that there is so much life right around us that we often do not see.

To capture this encounter I turned to a technique I learned as a child. My mother used to take scraps of paper, tearing and arranging them into incredible works of art: birds, people, even angels. Her motto was: "Use what you have."

Following my mother's lead, I created this owl and the birch trees entirely from cut-up, recycled Christmas wrapping paper. To me, this piece is a tribute to motherly advice and a shared instinct for resourcefulness.

Just as that mother owl hovered close, teaching her baby to keep still to stay safe, my mother taught me that you are truly self-sufficient when you learn to use what you have. Whether the goal is to stay safe or to create something beautiful, being resourceful is a vital life skill. It is a quiet reminder that within the things already surrounding us, we can find everything we need.