Otto Meets a Hawk

Maybe the idea started because I’m always trying to keep Birthday Magic going strong even after the actual celebration.

Or maybe it began as a way to spread the cost of gifts out with half a dozen children.

Who knows?

I can’t recall exactly when, but at some point in our family history I started giving gifts that were future experiences:

Taking a pottery class
Attending a concert
Watching live theatre
A skiing trip
Throwing axes
Dinner dates & movie dates

The goal is, of course, to fit the event or date to the person receiving the gift. Sometimes this finds me at a Twenty-One Pilots concert when I only know one song. It’s led me to Les Mis and Blue Man Group and to restaurants I never thought I’d try and to days spent kayaking and sleeping in a treehouse.

The time spent one on one with my kids is deeply meaningful to me and I hope to them too.

There are a lot of birthdays at our house and there’s Christmas too so that all adds up to a lot of brainstorming about what just the right outing could be.

For Otto’s 12th birthday I think I might have hit my best home run of a gift yet.

Google is pretty handy and we happen to live in a really great area for creative gift-giving. Within an hour or so in most any direction you can find all sorts of magic.

This adventure had us driving past Asheville to a cute little mountain town called Weaverville.

We met downtown at Curtis Wright Outfitters and then headed to the home of a falconer (of which there are only 257 in North Carolina) and we embarked on a real education. We met Sam Adams and Hoppy – two Harris hawks.

We learned about their diet and their lives – both in freedom and in captivity. We gawked at their hunting prowess and we learned a ton about becoming a falconer – it is NOT easy.

We walked to a nearby field – that also happened to be picturesque. (Waiting for us, as if on cue, were two darling tiny fawns, all spotted and hiding in the Queen Anne’s Lace. Magical!)

Otto had received his instructions previously. He had also received his heavy duty glove equipped for the task at hand.

Sam Adams, the hawk, was released from the handler and found himself a perch amongst the trees or on the telephone line.

Otto held his piece of beef or mouse head. (Yep.) And from his lofty perch, the hawk glided directly to Otto and landed right on his outstretched arm.

The best part of this video is Otto’s grin at the end.

If you go to that little YouTube channel, you can see a slow motion video too. (And you can subscribe if you want. I’m playing around with an idea that involves YouTube. We’ll see where it leads.)

Otto had the pleasure of calling the hawk – both hawks actually – to him many times. The instructor even positioned Otto and I toward another set of participants and the hawk flew right between us, brushing Otto’s shoulder with his wing. It was just incredible.

You can either attend as a participant or as an observer. I was the observer. Otto was the participant. Both have a fee, of course, but the observer is much less. If you can go as the participant – you definitely should!

Back at the home base, we also got to see up close my favorite – the barn owl. Oh my word. I cannot get over how gorgeous of a creature this bird is. His face. His feathers. His patterns. His colors. His downy adorableness. (I know it’s not all cute and games and I know he is a bird of prey – but still!) His name is Oskar. Just look at him.

We also met the peregrine falcon named Pisgah. Pisgah is not one you can handle individually but he does perform a bit of a show himself, especially when they take him to school groups. This team of falconers also works at Biltmore so if you’ve ever participated there, it’s the same pair.

Otto was beside himself the entire time – and he’s not one given to giddy happiness. That made the entire experience even more exciting and precious to me, of course.

I’m not sure if I can top this one next year – so I’ll be taking suggestions for ideas if you’ve got them!

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