cloud cover and the owl

i can't keep watching the cloud cover
falling thickly over time and my muddy boots, but
the wettest weather did not bother my dog.
she had a remarkably good time in the woods, fragrant
though they were with deer turds and rotting
leaves.  she appreciated the owl, watching it
as the crows and grackles hurled intense vocal anger
at it.  the owl made several short flights to nearby
trees after a crow, brainless or heedless, dove in an
attempt to swat the large intruder from a branch high
above my observation spot.  at one point, i counted
9 distressed birds pissed at the owl, who hooted his disdain several times
before finally rising in a stately manner to dust himself off, and
plowing past his adversaries with a certain aplomb, fly away.
they gave a token chase, but without any final commitment, they slowed.
and now that the local cacophony had ended, my dog and i followed
an obvious forest trail to wherever it might lead, fully satisfied.
yet the cloud cover remained.