Owl

“Owl was at home.”

This is the opening line to the 1975 children’s book Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel. Little background is provided about Owl. He appears to live alone, to have no family or neighbors, and it seems that his closest friend is the moon. We are only told five short stories (four of which occur entirely in his home) about him in this brief book.

I read Owl at Home as a child. Although, as with many things from childhood, I had forgotten all about him; that is, until the start of this year. One month before the pandemic I was at the library with my oldest son and daughter when I stumbled along Lobel’s name. A rush of memory returned as I skimmed through the titles. We checked out several of his books and went home.

While discovering new stories is exciting there is nothing quite like revisiting old ones — ones that your mind has forgotten but your heart never let go of. This unfolded as I read Lobel’s books to my children, and it was Owl who stood out most of all. So when the world changed, and I felt inspired to start sharing my own home experiences just a few weeks later, it was Owl who helped with the title and posture of this venture.

Initially Owl seems simple, naïve and a bit lonely. But after reading these stories dozens of times to my children (and a few times on my own) there emerged a pensive and honest quality to Owl as well as a harmonious relationship between his home and his surroundings. I’d like to reflect on each of these stories over the next month.

If you are able to find, borrow or purchase a copy of Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel I hope you will read along. Each story takes about two to three minutes to read and the illustrations themselves are thoughtful. If not, I will provide a brief synopsis each week for context. And even if Owl doesn’t resonate with you the same way he does with me I hope that he may remind you of those characters from that other imaginative world, whom you might consider friends, and that they might encourage you here in your profound existence.