Linda, who is standing behind Bryan in the pic above, did not fit the profile of what I thought a falconer would look like. Her bleached blond hair was in a spiky up-do, her sunglasses and lip gloss were bright pink, but looks can be deceiving. The first part of the lesson consisted of Linda explaining the history of falconry. She had a funny habit: anytime she wanted to really emphasize a point, her lead-in was, "I promise you..." Like, "I promise you, the ancient Chinese invented falconry to put food on their tables," or, "I promise you, even though these birds have been trained for years, they are still wild animals and they're not your friends."
Bryan loves animals, and I think he really enjoyed the lesson, although we were a little disappointed that we didn't get to actually handle the birds more. He looks like a natural, doesn't he? According to Linda, because hawks, owls, and falcons are federally protected in the U.S., beginners are limited in what they can do with the birds. "I promise you, that is not my decision, it's the government."
Bryan got to be part of the demonstration, and had a trained Harris Hawk, J.R., swoop right at him as Linda tempted J.R. with a chicken foot. I promise you, it was just like we were in the middle of Call of the Wild.
After we were done falconing, I promise you, it was time to pack up and go home.
3 comments:
I promise you, you look cuter and more energetic after off-roading, canoeing, hiking, and gorging yourself on food than I would.
These posts make me want to come out and vacation with you guys. (not that I didn't want to before) I miss you guys!
Was English not this lady's first language? Just sayin'. In Egypt, some guides has funny semantic quirks like that. One was: 'Be my guest'. As in, "Be my guest, we are visiting the oldest pyramid in the world. Be my guest, it was built by thousands of laborers." Seriously, do you think you & Bry could handle the 4 chili beans while we take a time out there at the Homestead?
(i'm just kidding. kind of.) ;)
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