Nature Done Wright

   Let me tell you about the five screech owl eggs that rest snugly in the nesting box beyond my backyard.
   To the eye, they are smooth, white and nearly round. They are a little smaller than a walnut, and a third the heft of a chicken’s egg. And so much more.
   They are everyday treasures that enrich my life. But they come with a catch. They remain valuable only if I do not possess them.
   In a month, if I am lucky, the five eggs will give way to five owlets.
   In two months, if I am luckier still, those owlets will grow big and leave home, never to return, and the nesting box will sit empty once more.
   All the while, the eggs are reminders that what is worth the most in life is not what I can grasp with my hands but what I can hold in my heart.

(Click "Continue reading" to read about how the photo at the top of the post was taken.)
   

The screech owl egg in the photo is an exact reproduction from a company called Bone Clones.
   I’m not trying to trick anybody — just seemed the logical way to illustrate this post.
   I hope that was OK with you.