We are visiting with Nascar's Mom and her husband in La Casa Grande, Arizona. They live in a strange place, "Retirement Planet" is what I have deemed it. It is a strange land, filled with people who have no jobs, and play golf everyday. Many of them drive around in golf carts, and drink wine out of sippy cups! In truth, "Retirement Planet" is their neighborhood of golf clubs, strip malls and older people, and it is strangely comfortable to be visiting in. I am sleeping late, as there are no jack hammers or trash trucks outside of their windows at 8am. Sandy, my mother-in-law, is cooking for us everyday and has wine with dinner every night. We have visited the "ruins" of Casa Grande (see last post) and today we visited a wildlife park. Nascar is loving the chance to visit other nature sanctuaries, and especially enjoys the desert animals.
We watched a raptor demonstration featuring the Harris Hawks today. These are the only type of hawks that hunt in groups and form maternal groups, with a female as the head of the pecking order. They are beautiful soaring animals and remind me of the Animal Medicine from Native Americans of the spirit of "Hawk the Messenger".
We saw some beautiful cats, including two lovely bob cats, and two fantastic owls.
There were all sorts of learning activities, including experiencing the hearing of the bat:
It was fairly silly, and quite fun to be with Nascar's family and get to know his Mom better. She seems so glad to have us visit and really proud of her son. Here is a family photo:
Most importantly to me, Nascar had a great time. He loved learning about the animals, and being outside. We picnicked for lunch, and probably walked 5 miles. Nascar was the navigator and took his map reading job very seriously.
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