May 17, 2008
Travel and wildlife would probably be the two words to capture this past week. I made three trips to camp within a week’s time so I had a lot of time on the road. At the moment I am on the road again as my roommate and I are headed to Siguatepeque to see some of my friends and pick up a tool I need for the ropes course. During my time at camp I had some good times of chatting with the staff and awesome wildlife spotting. On Thursday afternoon I had just returned from town when the maintenance staff flagged me down to show me two young owls that were sitting on one of the branches of the large pine tree that had just been cut down. The owls seemed scared and unsure of what to do considering they had sat on the same branch for 2 hours enduring the noise of a chain saw and presence of machetes. I had never seen such adorable little owls so close up. The mother did not seem to be around and most likely their home had been destroyed with the chopping of the tree.
We decided to transfer the owls (they appear to be Least Pygmy Owls which means they never get more than about 7 inches) to a makeshift cage on the Williamson’s house, not with the intention of forever keeping them but to give them protection from potential predators. We left the top of the cage open so that they could leave. During the night the one disappeared and the other was found on the ground outside the cage. We are hoping that the mother came and somehow took the weaker one with the intention that the stronger one then follow (that is what tigers do). I did see the mother later that day so perhaps she came for the second baby that next night. I just wanted to hold them and keep them forever though because of how adorable they were. A very fun glimpse of another part of God’s creation.
Travel and wildlife would probably be the two words to capture this past week. I made three trips to camp within a week’s time so I had a lot of time on the road. At the moment I am on the road again as my roommate and I are headed to Siguatepeque to see some of my friends and pick up a tool I need for the ropes course. During my time at camp I had some good times of chatting with the staff and awesome wildlife spotting. On Thursday afternoon I had just returned from town when the maintenance staff flagged me down to show me two young owls that were sitting on one of the branches of the large pine tree that had just been cut down. The owls seemed scared and unsure of what to do considering they had sat on the same branch for 2 hours enduring the noise of a chain saw and presence of machetes. I had never seen such adorable little owls so close up. The mother did not seem to be around and most likely their home had been destroyed with the chopping of the tree.
We decided to transfer the owls (they appear to be Least Pygmy Owls which means they never get more than about 7 inches) to a makeshift cage on the Williamson’s house, not with the intention of forever keeping them but to give them protection from potential predators. We left the top of the cage open so that they could leave. During the night the one disappeared and the other was found on the ground outside the cage. We are hoping that the mother came and somehow took the weaker one with the intention that the stronger one then follow (that is what tigers do). I did see the mother later that day so perhaps she came for the second baby that next night. I just wanted to hold them and keep them forever though because of how adorable they were. A very fun glimpse of another part of God’s creation.
On Tuesday I dropped my car off at the shop to get the electric system fixed so that my headlight would work again. With my car in the shop I worked from the church office, the plus of which was air condition all day. When I went back to the shop late afternoon for my car, it was not back yet and so I talked with the wife of the mechanic and then his daughter. During the brief conversation with the daughter, I discovered that she teaches Environmental Education at a University and is often looking both for field trips and for people to share in her classes. Although I do not think she is a Christian and at the moment a possibility for staffing, it was a good connection. I was glad to realize that my car troubles were not completely in vain in that I another door has opened because of it.
Currently I am in the waiting phase as I try to figure out if a high school can really come for Outdoor Education on May 26. I hate that everything is so last minute but there is not much choice if I want to give them a chance to come this school year yet. I am hoping that they come because it would be great to have the chance to run our own program, according the schedule that we put together. Some Houghton College students will probably be helping me out for Monday’s program which will be fun too. So I just have to wait and see what happens this week while all the while finishing up preparations for the group.
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