Holy Hooters!

So I have two friends ... actually, I hope I have more than two friends ... but I have two friends who have been friends with each other since they were in first grade. They are the kind of friends who can finish each other's sentences, who each know the other's favorite food, drink, color ... heck, they even know each other's favorite brand and flavor of toothpaste. These two gals have so much in common, I'd swear they must be twins that were separated at birth. There is, however, one huge difference between them ... one thing they are completely divided on ... owls. Yep, it's true ... my two friends almost come to blows at times over owls.

One friend has an infatuation with owls that borders on insanity. Everything in her house is owl-related, from her kitchen decor to the sheets on her bed to the soap in her shower. She is owl crazy ... like lock her up and throw away the key crazy over owls. The other friend, however, doesn't just not care much for owls, she is totally and completely, over-the-top terrified of owls, both real and pretend ones. She breaks out in a cold sweat and her cheeks turn bright red when she even hears the word "owl." So how is it they've remained friends for all these years? Simple ... their friendship means more to them than their differing views about owls, so they find a way to make it work. Though I don't see them ever sharing a room in the nursing home some day, I do know that their friendship will last as long as they live.

I've got something I need to get off my chest this evening ... I have a problem with hooters. Actually it's two hooters in particular that are causing my anguish ...yep, that's what I said ... two hooters are totally driving me crazy. I think about them when I'm awake, and I dream about them when I'm sleeping. They beckon to me late at night, and they taunt me first thing in the morning. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get those two hooters out of my head. I don't remember when they first became such a daily distraction for me, but it sure feels like it's been a long, long time. I also don't know how many times I've tried to get a glimpse of the two hooters, but I do know I've tried to see them on multiple occasions. People keep telling me it will happen when I least expect it ... and tonight ... tonight, it happened. Tonight, I saw them in all their glory, and they were more beautiful than I ever dreamed they would be. In fact, I'm pretty sure my mouth dropped open as I stood gazing at the two gorgeous medium-sized hooters ... they were simply amazing.

I can't help but wonder as I sit on my couch typing ... how is it that something as beautiful as the two owls who live in the tree next to my bedroom window can also be so incredibly annoying? Those two owls hoot all night long. No. Really. They start hooting before the sun goes down, they hoot all night and they hoot long after the sun comes up. They hoot all the flipping, stinking time. And they don't hoot quietly either. The two owls hoot a lot, and they hoot loudly ... but they are stunningly beautiful as they perch regally in the tree. And tonight as I stood watching them, it struck me that it was almost as if they were standing guard ... watching over me somehow ... urging me to look past the noise they make and see their beauty instead. As I turned and began to walk away from the tree, tears filled my eyes as I whispered a prayer ... a prayer thanking God for the owls ... a prayer asking for forgiveness for hearing only the noise rather than the song.

There's a big old gigantic lesson in those two beautiful hooters, friends ... look closely and listen wisely. Oh, and to those of you who thought this post was going to be about boobs ... not in a million years!