Rebecca Norris Webb, author of "My Dakota" and "A Difficulty Is a Light," found solace in South Dakota's Badlands after losing her identical twin brothers and father. She transformed grief into art, photographing landscapes that mirrored her emotional journey. "Belted kingfishers and Townsend's solitaires became symbols of her brothers, while the cedar waxwing represented her father, a raptor enthusiast. During a memorial visit, she documented the elusive great horned owl nesting near her childhood home, its one-eyed gaze evoking memories of her father's glaucoma-affected eye.

The owl's presence became a poignant metaphor for connection across loss, echoing Tranströmer's poetry about emptiness and openness.