It wasn't JUST the owls...

I, like many, had no idea when finding the Molly site of any expectations as what was to become a continuing adventure. I started while being a novice at my new computer. Computer experience prior had been for work and I had limited encounters with the outside Internet world. So, on a cold, wet day in March, I started twitter and was just lurking at sites. My first view was Molly and McGee "bonding" as the viewers reported. I had found the ss...and I watched the posts of 608 people. I lurked for a few minutes, interested in the owl family, then gained enough nerve to join the chatting. Stories circled my mind like wagons of the dangers of Internet exposure. I took my chances. Immediately, several posts welcomed me to the site...initials, cute ID's..all unknown. I couldn't tell ages, sex or locations of those writing, and they had no knowledge of me. I was accepted just as I am..no question. I had no expectations of those people...but they shared a warm welcome to me on my isolated dreary winter day. I stayed for a short time but returned later as evening shuttered me inside my house. People actually remembered me...welcomed me again and others just posting. Always the polite responses, the welcomes, the helpfulness of others. The numbers grew that very evening...more each hour it seemed. I stayed on the site well into dawn and returned again a few hours later. The interactions of all these people from all over the world interested me. The owl watching contagious. I stayed in the site for the entire day and the next and the next. We had no idea to whom we were speaking day to day...but we grew, confident more each day. We shared jokes, laughs, emotions with each other..strangers we had no knowledge of..just their handles. We still had no expectations, no judgement of others..we all were accepted into this growing community of followers of owls. We returned day and night and we became acquaintances, our bond was the owl family at first. Our hearts beat as one many times through the days and nights. We logged on as soon as possible during the day or night. We nurtured each other, we supported each other, we shared fears and dreams for our owl family. Little by little we came to know each other through one line comments..not sharing much but humor we shared a good deal. We pushed aside our personal lives and developed another life..that of the owl watchers. I saw dawns and sunsets with my new peers..my new friends with whom I shared a bond yet, I had no idea if they were male or female or even names of many..I only knew handles. The kindnesses of strangers.

We became closer, telling small snippets of our lives. We were candle makers, nurses, jewelry makers, housewives, scientists, counselors...we came from different walks of life, different cities: New York, Oklahoma, Illnois, California, cities and towns, large and small across the U.S....and other countires: 17 countries with whom I spoke in one day...it didn't matter...we accepted all.

Our amazing emotional bond grew..our language developed..our friendships developed and they continue on this adventure. We now know real names, we spend endless hours on the phone, on the computer, in each others lives. We fell in love, we disagree, we laugh, we support each other...we cry with each other..we have what a lot of families envy.... each other. It wasn't all about the owl family, although, that was our bond. The owls have grown now..moved out into the world and returned to that owl box to raise yet another family. It wasn't all about the owls..it was about us..the MODs. It was us that grew...it was us that became a family..it was us that accepted each other without question...it is us still...it is still our adventure to this day...the owl watchers...and we continue...it simply wasn't just about the owls.

I thank you, all, for making my life more meaningful...for restoring to me what I had let go, what I had forgotten at times.....for reminding me human nature is not all bad...reminding me people do care..for making me laugh out loud...for your friendship ..for giving me back community, hope, nurture and love. It was about the owls..but it certainly was not JUST about the owls. I am so lucky to have found the owls...and you..and shared the adventure with all ...I am the lucky one...for I have grown because of you...my life is richer now because of you...my love has grown because of you....I thank you for sharing with me...the owls, the adventures, and the laughs...it wasn't JUST about the owls...but it IS because of them. jc july 16,2010