To the Owls

“A serious writer is not to be confounded with a solemn writer.  A serious writer may be a hawk or a buzzard or even a popinjay, but a solemn writer is always a bloody owl.”

Ernest Hemingway

I’m not sure our friend, Hemingway, carefully thought through this statement.  In fact, none of my writer friends are either hawks or buzzards, nor do I know any bloviating popinjays except on the teevee machine.

If you could be any bird, which bird might you be?

Me?  I think I’d like to be a bluejay — vocal to the point of annoyance, but darned striking while being so … and with a hint of wild, green vocabulizing parrot useful for dialogue and descriptive scene.  Also, go ahead and give me a touch of that solemn owl for sensitivity, yet add in the enthusiasm of a hummingbird.  I might look a bit odd, but I’d be a useful writer.

So, which bird do you envision yourself to be?

6 thoughts on “To the Owls

  1. I don’t know that I’ve ever considered myself as a bird or any other animal for that matter. Sometimes I see myself as living in a different time or a different place. And no, it doesn’t mean that I would care to suddenly awaken in that era. I’m too used to the comforts and conveniences of the late 20th early 21st Century.

    Still, if I were to be a bird, perhaps I would be a raven or a crow. They seem so clever and smart, and seem to have a somewhat warped sense of humor.
    Dave

    PS: It would seem your wrist is recovering nicely, based on the number of posts you have been putting up of late.

  2. I think I would be an eagle. It is mentioned in my favorite Bible verse, and I like the fact that it is the predator, not the prey. But I would be a nice vegetarian eagle and leave all the bunnies alone. It would just be nice to fly, and to be top dog in my world for a while…

  3. Thanks, Dave — The wrist is much better, but the leg is now sore from walking on it all day every day. Big house, long stairs, lots of boxes to unpack.

    Ah, the Raven — great bird with a genuine sense of humor. They collect shiny things too, I think. I LIKE shiny things.

    Auburn

  4. Ah, Lisa — my eagle friend. My Vegetarian eagle friend who’d never eat a bunny. That’s so sweet.

    In my book, dear, you’re already top dog! That is if an eagle could be a dog … er, well, you know what I mean. 🙂

    Auburn

  5. It’s also said that dragons like shiny things. I suppose I could imagine myself as a dragon as well, especially one as intelligent and aware as TEMERAIRE in Naomi Novik’s HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON, and the other books in the TEMERAIRE series.
    Dave