It was almost midnight on a dark October night

The leaves were beginning to turn and it was cool but with still air

Dark silence was broken by an owl hooting

I stepped outside to listen

He seemed to be in the nearest big tree

It was too dark to see him

A second owl further away was answering his call

I listened intensely for about twenty minutes

I recorded the sounds on my phone

A quick search online revealed a guide to owl sounds on youtube

I was able to compare the sounds and identify them as great horned owls

Unfortunately I could not tell what they are saying

I wonder how long it will be before somebody develops an App for that

One that translates animal sounds into human language

Imagine the joy of talking to your pet dog

Listening to his barking thoughts

Maybe he could teach you new tricks

Like how to identify things by smell

You could ask him to perform clever tricks

Like fetching you a cold beer from the fridge

If I had that App today

I would tell the owl how sorry I was

For all the trees being cut down for housing developments

I would tell the owl I am sorry for all the pollution

Sorry for all the pesticides that disrupt the animal food chain

I wonder what the owl would have to say in return

Hoot hoot….hoot hoot

Hopefully that means “its OK I forgive you”