Night Owl
It was a cool fall night in 1988. I’m working for the Ft. Worth Police in the downtown area. I worked as a foot patrol officer and tried to keep a lid on things when the parties were over. The bars shut down at 2:00AM. After I leave there’s still stragglers downtown, but it becomes patrols problem. One night I got a huge shock when I pulled in my driveway.
I lived in a suburb of Ft. Worth called Hurst. It’s a quiet city with almost no crime. I’ve always been relaxed in Hurst, and it was a good place to live. I generally got home a little after three in the morning. It was always quiet, and everyone was asleep. Not only my family but all the neighbors were asleep. It was a daily routine for me. It felt good to pull in the driveway and leave behind the chaos of a night at work in the big city. It was quiet and peaceful. I could relax at this point.
One particular night I pulled in the driveway, and I was tired. I was still in full uniform. I got out of the car. As I stood up, I hadn’t closed the door yet and I heard a loud swoosh. I was facing the house and thought someone had come out of the bushes next door and was running at me. The swooshing quickly became loud. My instincts kicked in and I got a massive adrenaline rush. I whipped around as I drew my weapon. When I turned it took me a second to comprehend what I was seeing. Even though it was dark the image was clear and well-lit from the next door neighbors outside lights. It was the biggest bird I had ever seen. It was an owl. He had at least a six foot wingspan. He had a mixture of white and black feathers flying at an extreme rate of speed. The bird was majestic, flying at my knee level, maybe two feet off the ground. I could see huge claws as he quickly approached, I decided to pull the trigger. By the time I had my gun leveled on him, he was on me. When the bird got feet away, he shot straight up into the air. He was perfect in flight and gone in an instant. I could hear the wings flapping and it was intense.
I now have this adrenalin rush to deal with. It’s bad enough I have to come home and try to relax for a while from the adrenalin rushes at work so I can go to sleep. Now I have a fresh rush in my front yard. I stood there for a few minutes leaning up against the car. I’m looking up at the sky waiting for him to come back. I had never experienced anything like that. Everything immediately returned to the quiet neighborhood I was used to. I went inside as the family slept and had a beer, or two, or three, and was finally able to get some rest.
It’s funny how as you get older more things become apparent. When I was in High School during the early 1970’s our mascot was an owl. I played on the football team. I never was impressed with the owl. The school always promoted the owl as a symbol of wisdom. The picture on our school yearbook cover had an owl dressed in cap and gown for education. The other schools had great mascots for fighting. They had bears, eagles, cowboys, raiders, and lots more. I will say, over the years my view of owls has changed. There are many different species, and the owl is amazing. I would put the bird who came at me that night up against any predator, even an eagle. I have never been so close to a bird that massive. I definitely see owls in a different light now.
