Cooperation Instead of Confrontation

It is surreal to hear that a prominent academic got himself arrested by his neighborhood police officer. If Professor Henry Louis Gates, Junior, a Harvard scholar, were cooperative and more emphatic to what Sgt. Crowley was trying to do, this incident would undoubtedly conclude amiably to everyone’s satisfaction. I would think the respected prof would have more know-how under his sleeves to defuse a touchy situation. It also appears to me that no one in his neighborhood knows him and vice versa. But his neighbor did what concerned neighbors do. She called the police to protect his property.

This unsavory incident also reminds me of a classmate I had in a research course.

Our prof assigned me to work with an African-American student who was also a teacher on a reporting project. We were scheduled to meet the prof at an agreed time for further instruction on the specific reference materials that we could get from the library. For reasons unknown to me, my partner went to meet our prof before our appointment. Then when I got to the library looking up the reference item, the page with the details we needed was not there. Someone had cut it from the nicely bound book.

To this day, I still can not fathom why someone would destroy a perfect library book. And I will be very worried if that someone happens to be a teacher.- Ayee

The Tails of Two Owls*

*"A Dog Who Wouldn’t Be," (1957) Farley Mowat
"Owls of the Family," ( 1961), Farley Mowat

I did not know I would get this much fun out of readings these two books. I thank the author for sharing his childhood experiences with the public. They are priceless. I often heard life in the Canadian prairie was boring. But based on Mr. Mowat’s accounts, his interactions with gophers, birds and many other wildlife in the Canadian dust bowls are fascinating.

Now let’s go back to Wol and Weep. As the book's title "Owls of the Family" suggests, this is a story of two orphaned owls. They were rescued by a young boy, Billy, and his pals, and kept as family pets for many years. Wol was named after the owl in "Winnie- the-Pooh," while Weep got his name from the weepy sound he made sometimes. I do not know if the harsh and cruel circumstance of which these two birds experienced at the time of their rescue can influence their future behaviors. Even though they were both from the same species of the owl family, each of them had a personality of their own. Wol was found in a wooded area. And he, a fledgling then, managed to survive a wretched storm on his own. He emerged from the merciless nature as a strong one. By the time he was cleaned and fed, he decided to follow these three nice young boys home for good.

The young Weep was saved from the hands of two bullies. He was seen at the bottom of an oil drum dodging the many stones that his captors were throwing at him. His first encounter with human beings was not an inviting one. This is why he was a timid one.

Wol was the daring one who played pranks even on the family dog, Mutt. On the other hand, Weep was always not so sure about himself. Mutt had become his body guard. This is why Weep did not get mentioned in the book often. And Wol was the one who got himself and his little friend in big trouble many times. Despite the facts that they lived as free as birds, the strong bond between these two owls and the young boy made them inseparable. They were definitely not barn owls. Because of Wol’s unpredictable behaviors, he caused the family lose their capable maid. He upset Billy’s French teacher when he landed on her lap, and he also scared the wits out of the country vicar when he decided to be friendly with the man of the cloth.

The story of these two beautiful country owls and the author's dog brought many laughs out of me. I will definitely revisit them again to amuse myself. - Ayee