Beware of the Peacock

This whole scene actually happened at the beginning of February, but hey, it's not March yet so it's not too late is it? Better late than never! (I never realized how time consuming directing a Roadshow could be, but seriously I eat, sleep, and Breathe Roadshow. Look forward to more posting after our last performance on March 21!)



Finding ourselves with free time one leisurely afternoon, my Mom and I took a trip to a nearby Leo Carillo City Park. Sounds like an average outing, but for us this park has very deep meaning.



The park was built around an old fashioned Ranch, and was hidden here for many years. While I was growing up it happened to only be about a 2 mile journey from my backyard through a large chaparral wasteland. We would journey through what my family called the "Land of the Giants" (there were lots giant trees) and sneak around this old ranch, full of peacocks. Occasionally we would even find some adventurous peacocks that had traveled all the way to our backyard. The peacocks were my childhood friends and the Ranch was a hidden shrine of daily adventures. At this time in my life, I was sure we were the only people who knew about this secret, possibly forbidden, run down Ranch.



Well, life goes on... kids grow up and houses are built. Our 2 mile private hike to the Ranch was cluttered with construction. We moved and left our old peacock farm behind.



Later we heard rumors that they had fixed up the Ranch and it was now a city park. Supposedly kids even took field trips there. For fear of disappointment at seeing our once secluded hideaway becoming commercialized, we never visited. We wanted the family memories of adventure to stay the way it was in our minds forever, regardless of our curiosity.



We were pleasantly surprised with our return visit after over 10 years. It still held its charm, and it was fun to wander through everything without worrying about trespassing. There were more peacocks than ever, and I had a grand time re bonding with them. My Mom just got a new camera, so she did a photo shoot to test out all her new tricks. The pictures turned out darling, and other than one unfortunate nip one of the peacocks gave Lucy, it was a glorious afternoon (To find out the details of Lucy's Peacock encounter, scroll to the story entitled "Beware of the Friendly Peacock").

Oh, I forgot to mention, Lucy wants to wear dresses everywhere. (I just wanted to let you know it wasn't my idea to put her in a dress and then let her run around in the dirt!)

Here's Lucy's Peacock face (we asked her if she could make a peacock face and this is what she did):How cool is this albino peacock, all fluffed up

More Peacock Face

Lucy's Dramatic, surprised face:

Beware of the Friendly Peacock:

I was really excited when this friendly peacock came to see us (can you tell by my cool facial expression). Lucy was really afraid, but I kept telling her "Don't worry, the peacock is nice"

I sat her down on the haystack so we could get a classic picture with her and the peacock, but just as I was reassuring Lucy that the peacock was nice, she put her hand out to him and he gave her a nip!I was really startled and pulled her back with a scream. She started crying, but I couldn't tell if it was because she was hurt or because I scared her. I asked her if she got an "Owie" and she kept pointing to her finger and saying "owie" for the next couple hours. I still don't know if it was real, she gets really excited about "owies," in fact I wouldn't be surprised if she said "Thank You" to the peacock for giving her an "owie" to talk about for the rest of the day.

I feel absolutely terrible for telling her not to worry and that the peacock was nice. What parent encourages their children to go closer to wild animals? (Okay I did, but I promise not to again my sweet little child). Hopefully, she will learn to trust me again after such a devastating experience. Hey, all parents make mistakes, right? Anyway, that is the last time I try to take pictures of my kid right next to a peacock!