Never doubt that God has a wicked sense of humor, and you could be the butt of His jokes.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Him with all my heart but on Christmas Day I know He had to be laughing at me.  

For months now I have taken a day here and there to try and photograph owls.  I think they are some of the most majestic and beautiful birds that God has ever created. Sadly, my efforts have yielded little success, yet I remain determined and my fascination drove me to Fletcher Park in Western North Carolina to try photographing an owl yesterday.  What an amazing gift that would have been, to finally capture an owl image on Christmas Day.

As I scouted the thin tree line that wrapped around the open meadow, the perfect habitat for owls, I met a gentleman walking his dog.  

He politely asked, “Are you taking photos of birds?”

I smiled back with my camera and 500m lens dangling off my monopod, “Yup, how’d you guess, was it the lens that gave it away? Man, I can’t take this thing anywhere.”

He laughed and continued, “Well, I have seen a Barred Owl out here the last two days.  She was perched right over there in those dead trees in the center of the meadow.”

“Really,” I excitedly replied, “Thank you!” 

I quickly hiked over to the tree he had mentioned and waited.  But after waiting an hour I didn’t see the Barred Owl he had mentioned and as the sun set behind the horizon, I figured it was time to head back to my truck, defeated yet again.  However, God has never left me completely empty-handed and as I passed a large briar thicket at the edge of the meadow I noticed multiple Song Sparrows fluttering about the briars.  I was happy to be able to capture an image of one of the sparrows perched beautifully on a briar branch.  

Christmas Song [Shop This Image]

After capturing the cute little sparrow, the darkness of night engulfed me as I reached my truck, reminding me it was time to head home and call it a night.  As I walked up my front porch step, reaching in my pocket for my keys to unlock the door I heard loudly and distinctly from behind my house, “Hoo-hoo”.  Only to hear it answered by another “Hoo-hoo” from a nearby pine in my neighbor’s yard.

I looked up into the clear night sky, and prayed quietly, “ Seriously Lord? Got jokes, huh? Not just one owl but two, and it is too dark to successfully photograph them. Ha, ha…”

I can just imagine God up on His throne reaching over tapping Jesus on his shoulder to say, “Hey son, watch this…”

Listen to the owls in my backyard