Mother Nature...artiste extraordinaire!!

One morning in school, right after we were done with the coats, lunch count, and other assorted tasks to begin the day, one of the kids chirps out, "There's a lady outside the door with an owl in a towel and she wants to know if she can come in for a moment."


My immediate reaction was one of disbelief...I mean, can you blame me? I quickly directed the kids to 'sit back down' and went to check it out. I did not recognize the woman, and yes she had an owl wrapped in a towel! She was the wife of one of our substitutes, and the owl had gotten 'hung up' in their tree, and was dead when they discovered it.She thought the kids would like to see an owl 'up close and personal' before she turned it over to Cornell University. When leaving the 6th grade Science teacher and my former students from last year, she asked, "Who-o-o [!!] else in the building would probably want to see this?" And they shouted out my name! Well now... how could I turn this 'teachable moment' away? I said that she could come in, but that the kids had to be about 2 feet back, and could not touch it.

Back in the classroom, I prepared the kids[with the rules], we moved a couple of desks, and the owl was placed on a front table.

I cannot describe the beauty of that owl. It looked as if it were sleeping, and had no physical signs of its recent demise...perfectly calm, peaceful, and awesome. When she extended the owl's wing, the feathers were a blend of color and patterning that was absolutely inspiring. And what a wing span!! Symmetrical and perfect.
The talons, the eyes[closed] and the face...something to remember, for sure. After about 15 minutes, the wise old owl departed[!!] from our classroom and continued on for a higher education at Cornell.
The kids documented the impromptu experience in their journals while the images were fresh in their minds. Far out!!