It was a beautiful
Saturday night in Miami Lakes and attorney Maurice Costa and his family were a party of seven, dining outdoors at Trattoria Pampered Chef restaurant in the Cypress Village Shopping Center.
The occasion on March 13 was a birthday celebration for Costa’s sister-in-law, Monica Diaz.
A singer was performing Frank Sinatra songs and as the entrees were served, the family was joined by an unexpected guest.
“She was very cute,” Costa said about an owl, smaller than a football, that flew into a tree next to their sidewalk table.
“I asked the server if she came here often, but she said ‘No,’” Costa said about the rare sighting.
He couldn’t imagine what attracted the owl to a brightly-lighted shopping center where there were lots of people and traffic, too.
“Maybe it was the music,” he joked. “It became a thing for people. She was posing for pictures.”
After enchanting her audience for about 30 minutes, the owl flew over the family’s table toward Main Street.
“It was an unforgettable birthday for Monica,” Costa said.
And it was for Costa, too.
“Never again will I not check out that tree,” he said.
--Linda Trischitta
Photo courtesy of Maurice Costa.