WHITE RAVEN

An encounter with a white raven.

     I first saw the white raven in the fall when the trees were all aflame with red, yellow and orange leaves. She appeared in the silver maple tree in my back yard. I live in a rural area and often see ravens. Their strange calls fascinate me and when I hear them somewhere overhead or nearby in the Douglas Fir tree tops I stop and look for them. I like to compare them to crows. Living in a rural area was new to me and these sort of things I find very interesting. So, that warm, sunny fall morning when I heard a raven overhead in my silver maple tree I looked up. And got quite a surprise! A white raven!

      Wow! I was really excited. I found myself talking to the bird, “Well, hello there white raven. How are you?”

      I chuckled inside. What would I have done if the bird answered me? Silly me.

     The raven made a strange clicking sound. I smiled. It was as if she was answering me. I thought of the raven as a she even though I had absolutely no way to tell if the white raven was a male or female. She just sounded right.

      The white raven opened her wings and flapped them a few times. “Wow.” I said. It was like I was giving the raven encouragement or positive reinforcement. Oh well. “You're very pretty and unique.”

      The raven turned her head to look at me out of one of her eyes. I felt scrutinized all of a sudden. I wondered what she saw. What did a bird think when they looked directly at a human being? Something positive or negative?

     I laughed inside again. “Well, I gotta get back to my yard work.” I had been cleaning up my garden for fall. I was planning on planting some of those winter plants that look like cabbage. I wanted to have something a little nice looking growing in what otherwise would be a very barren patch of dirt with lingering dead spindly plants sticking out of the soil. Ugh.

     The white raven opened her beak then snapped it shut. I heard that. I gasped a little in surprise. “Wow.” I said to the white bird, looking up at her where she was perched in one of the lower branches. “Well, gotta get busy.”

     I went and bent over the plants I was going to plant, meaning to carry one to the hole I had just dug for it in the soil. As I was starting to lean over to reach for the plant the white raven landed in the soil beside me. I straightened up in surprise rather quickly. “Hey!”

      The white raven hopped over to me and turned her head to look up at me out of one of her eyes. I had a sudden eerie feeling. This was weird. No raven came up this close to a human. I wondered if she was a tame bird or one who had acclimated to people. “Well...” I didn't know what to do now. The white raven stepped closer to me. She did actually look like she stepped and not hopped. I wondered if she was hungry. Should I go inside and get something to feed her? Hmm. What to do? What to do?

      The white raven let out a loud honking like cry and opened her wings. She lifted up into the warm air with powerful strokes of her white feathered wings. I watched her as she rose up into the sky and flew over my house. I heard ravens close by and wondered if she was going to join them. I shook my head in wonder then returned my attention to the plants I was wanting to get into the ground this afternoon.

     As I worked I thought of the white raven. Would she return? Was she wild or someone's pet or perhaps a wild bird somehow used to humans so she had no fear of them? I decided to have some food here just in case she would return.

     It turned out that it was a good thing I did. The white raven indeed returned and often once she discovered there was good tasty food for her here. For several years she returned, during all seasons but most often during the winter snowy months. Sometimes other ravens came with her but never another white raven. She was always welcome, my white winged friend.

 

Reviews

[Star Wolf]

I like this. Very usual and this could be describing something that actually happened. Excellent storytelling skills.

[Black Cat Fever]

Ah, those rare and mysterious moments when we seem or perhaps we are communicating with wild creatures. Moments to treasure.

[Larry Dyson]

continuation planned? And its kolrabi....I believe

[Wolf's Dark Song]

The idea of a white raven is pretty cool. They must exist as there are a lot of albinos of many species if not all, including humans. I like this little story, it was very interesting and not a dull or boring moment in it.

[Norma M Sutton]

How interesting. I've never seen a white raven or even heard of one. We have crows and blackbirds here, but if we have ravens I don't know about them.