Camille and I went to our preschool playgroup at a park near our house the other day. Since we were there first thing in the morning, there were hundreds of these tracks in the playground sand.
Was this place home to millions of giant pigeons?
Nope, just these two ostriches emus (I can’t tell the difference, but someone else there said ostriches are wider and have more tail feathers). This was not a zoo, just a normal park with a playground and slide and, oh yeah, a couple of exotic birds in a cage.
The way they walked around with their beaky heads bobbing reminded me of the velociraptors from Jurrasic Park.
Like everything else in life, she wasn’t too sure about them, but she did tell me, “I want to go see the chickens.”
A maintenance worker showed them how to pick the green plants growing around the perimeter of the park and feed them to the birds through the holes in the fence.
She tried it once and then let me do all the feeding after that. Their jerky head movements and pecks were a little intimidating.
After birdwatching and playtime were over we let the kids play in the park’s fountains.
She wasn’t so sure about the water shooting out of the ground at unpredictable intervals.
(Yes, I do realize she’s just like me.)
Getting braver . . .
but ready to run at any moment . . .
In the end she did get wet — see the drenched hair and face?
(we just take a little while to warm up . . .)