Morning at the Raptor Rehab Center

Cold day today, but that didn't stop us from a trip to Mendon Ponds. They have a little center for injured birds of prey, which Sam and I visited for the first time. Saw several red-tailed hawks, a snowy owl, a bald eagle, a barn owl and a horned owl. Would have seen a bobcat if he hadn't been hiding.

I know, it's not a bird. They didn't explain why they made an exception for him. I suppose if you are the kind of society who keeps injured birds you don't pass up a bobcat when offered. Apparently his injury is that he was front-declawed to be kept as a pet. Also worth noting that their enclosures were all significantly smaller than those used by the local zoo.

Despite being non-profit they had a very well stocked gift shop. It was manned by a grouchy old woman who seemed very suspicious that we would "enjoy" their birds without giving a proper donation. We did end up giving $2, but not in the typical denomination. They give visitors the option of, for $1, buying a mouse. They then name the mouse after you and feed it to one of the birds! If you are there at the right time, you can even watch. I bought two on the condition that they not name either mouse after me.

After that, we were wandering around outside the nature center when a man in running shorts jogged by, towards a network of paths they have in the park. Sam was so intrigued that he wanted to follow to see where the guy was going. (Sam is getting more interested in automotive transportation too. Today he asked me more than once to follow one car or another, and he's still trying to work out why, sometimes, when the light is green, I still don't go.) So we followed running guy who was quickly out of sight, and just enjoyed walking down the trails.

In other Sam news, "Little Max"--the hand puppet Max as done by Sam--made another appearance. I looked over at one point tonight to see Sam's two hands engaged in a lively discussion. Couldn't make out what they were saying, exactly. I'm unsure if this is a sign that he is an intelligent boy with a strong imagination, or just a little loopy. As I understand it, that ambiguity remains until they head off for college.

So, to prove that he really does have some non-imaginary friends, I'm posting two photos of them: First, with Lexie, and then with Ethan and Elliot. Good friends, all.

I should mention we made a trip to the Play Museum and visited Sam's friend, Mouse Trap. I was amazed a day or two ago when, having not seen it for weeks, and then only once, he remembered how the marble moves through the trap well enough to correct me on it. Really, we don't sit around and drill him on this. I think he has a really good memory for important things like where marbles go under the power of gravity.