A Life in the Day of a Desert Museum

Since Jao was with us for the day, and since we were trapped in a cold snap--the temperature scarcely getting into the eighties--and since the

Desert Museum can be very much like a Sonoran desert when it is hot, we decided to spend a few hours there, and a delightful few hours they were, too. Jao loves the biology more than the botany of the Museum, even when the animals are mineral.

The Bighorn sheep family has been in a family way, so their generations are showing.

One of the advantages of the river otter and other water exhibits is that there is a small ice cream shop just around the corner.

We saw Mexican Gray wolves, a pacing bear, and almost saw a young Mountain Lion taking a mid-day nap. Not all of the prairie dogs were dozing: some were on sentinel duty.

Sentinels were everywhere.

The humming bird house, or aviary, particularly fascinated Jao, not because of the birds, but because the entry and exit was secured with a curtain wall of lightweight plastic chains to discourage birds from using the doorways. One can always finds birds: a chain-link doorway is hard to ignore.

We saw a very large collection of Galloping Tourists: "Where is the next stop? Old Tucson? What is Old Tucson?" "It's where they used to make old west movies, up the road to the right." "Which way is right?"

"That way."

There were more birds outside than inside the aviary. That was only fair.

It is Spring, and the small rains of recent seasons go further than they do in what used to be the wet places. We will have to get used to that: maybe use less ice in our tonics.

Jao stayed overnight, so that his Dad could meet some friends for dinner. Jao has gone home now, and Mari is taking a nap. (There is probably a cause-and-effect story in there, somewhere.)

Comments

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