Night owls...

Sometimes I hear the question asked, "What is your idea of a perfect date?" Answers from others vary from trips to Paris to wild champagne filled parties to romantic starlit cruises.

We had a perfectly lovely date tonight. It involved none of the above. After 25 years of marriage we think a great night is a quiet dinner at home... but tonight we were "night owls!"
We went to hear a lecture given by the Chewonki foundation, all about owls. The focus was on the owls commonly found here in Maine. Three live owls came to the event, this Horned owl, (which treated us to a smattering of seductive hoots) a wee Screech owl and a lovely Barred owl. We have Barred owls living near our house, I hear them calling often. I love to lie in our quiet room at night and hear them, their call sounds like they are saying, "Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all?" Sometimes two of them will call back and forth, chortling and chatting each other up.

After the interesting lecture we went to a favorite haunt for a yummy meal... and conversation about plans for the future. I remember that when I was a little kid I figured that life was pretty much over at 50. Yet, here I am... pushing 50 hard and still making big plans for exciting changes and projects for my tomorrow.

Yup, sometimes going out and being a "night owl" is a welcome change.