03.20.09
A Different Kind of Entertainment Day
I had made plans a few weeks ago to take the boys to visit the Gamble House. I had taken a tour of the house when I was in high school, but my boys have not. The plan was to get to the last tour of the day, which started at 3PM. We gave ourselves about 1/2 and hour to get there, which would have been enough time had there not been “unusual” traffic at that time–i.e. Obama visiting LA and thus various streets blocked for security, grrrr. Sooooo, the boys and I didn’t get to the tour on time and could not take the tour. I guess we’ll have to try again another day, but give ourselves more time, just in case. So rather than just go empty handed, I took a picture of the Gamble House from outside.
If we ever make their tour, I’ll try to post more details about this house then.
Sooo, what to do? Well, why not visit Heritage Square while we were out in this direction? So back to the bat mobile and off we went. When we arrived, we found that it was “closed.” Aacck! So again, rather then leave empty handed, I took some pictures from outside the gates.
So what to do next? Well, on they way there we saw some signs advertising the Southwest Museum. . . Hmmm. . . maybe we could hit that place instead? Sooo, back to the bat mobile. . . When we arrived at the Southwest Museum, this is what we found. . .
Aaaaccckk! Open Saturdays and Sundays, but we were there on Thursday. So, you guessed it. It was CLOSED. What’s the saying? Strike three and you’re out? Ha ha! Well, luckily they had a tiny little botanical garden that we could stroll through, so that’s what we ended up doing. There were lots of lizards there for some reason, and they ended up being our main entertainment for the day as we were able to watch two lizards in action. What were they doing? Fighting? OR. . . Hard to know since I’m no lizard expert, but this certainly was the most action I’ve ever witnessed up close and personal with two lizards. Here’s how it began. First they ran across the pavement, and then one caught up with the other.
They seemed to eyeball one another when finally lizard #1 made it’s move by actually biting onto lizard #2’s tail.
Then, with lightening speed, they ended up like this.
By this time, the boys and I were placing bets, ha! Then for a moment it appeared that the death grip was broken and one was getting away. However, the assailant was not done yet, and before the entanglement was over, he grabbed the other lizard by the tail again.
Despite being caught by the tail, the lizard on-the-run tried to pull again, but El Jaws there hanging on it’s tail would not let go. So he got dragged about a bit. I was wondering if it’s tail were going to come off.
But, no, the tail didn’t come off. And again flipping in the air while wriggling and writhing with lightening speed they ended up in this position.
Okay, do you notice anything? Well, at this moment, I did. I noticed that I was getting mighty CLOSE. Being that reptiles have always fascinated me, every time we went to a zoo, I would make sure to visit the reptile section. BUT while I love to LOOK at them, I am a big chicken and am afraid to TOUCH them. The beauty of looking at reptiles in the zoo is that you can look pretty close, but they are behind thick glass. This time there was no glass barrier. And I started to get the hibby geebies that with them flipping and flopping all over the place, they might “flop” on me if I keep getting too close. And quickly, very quickly, my skin started crawling, and I had to stop taking pictures! Ha ha! So that’s the end of our picture show. . .
So after we browsed through their garden we headed back up to our car. Along the way we saw this totem pole. And Matty asked, “Why is his ‘nose’ there?” We all stopped dead in our tracks to look at the totem pole. Brian broke the silence and said, “I don’t think that’s his ‘nose’.” LOLOLOL
We all got a good laugh, so despite striking out three times yesterday, we still managed to enjoy ourselves. And the neat thing is that this morning I found that this Sunday the Heritage Square is supposed to be “free.” So we’ll see if we can make our way back there this Sunday.
Marlakins
Autry National Center said,
March 20, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Greetings from the Southwest Museum! We’re glad to hear that you found some lizard entertainment on your last visit despite the museum being closed. Although it appears otherwise, the “nose” on the totem pole is actually a whale fin. We hope you and your boys will come back during the weekend one day!
Administrator said,
March 21, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Oh! What a nice surprise to get a personal comment from the Southwest Museum! Oh my! Thanks for stopping by, commenting, AND clarifying the totem pole “whale fin!” Now that I have been made aware that your museum is there, and additionally that your staff is helpful and friendly, I am doubly inclined (and encouraged) to make the effort to visit and see what’s inside your museum. Thank you!
P.S. I’ll have to check out that totem pole more carefully, as apparently I missed other details so as not to know that it was a whale fin. . .
patti said,
March 22, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Thanks, Marla. I just had a hearty, funny laugh! A merry heart doeth good like a medicine! What a funny day – but hey – it ended up not being so bad after all.
patti