ostriches and tigers and peacocks, oh my!

Here in our little hometown we seem to consider the ostrich as our unofficial mascot. That’s not just random, there’s a historical link in that there used to be a place called the Cawston Ostrich Farm over near the Arroyo about a century ago. There’s a life size stuffed ostrich (of the Teddy Bear toy doll variety, not taxidermied, thank god, although, maybe that would be better, but super creepy) in the local library.

Wouldn’t that be the way to roll into Old Town in style for the evening! More photos here.


For some reason the mascot for the school sports teams is the Tiger. Go Tigers! That seems a little boring to me. I’d rather root for an Ostrich. Go Ostriches!

I finally went out for another long run in the Arroyo the other day (after about three weeks missed. It went well, thanks, and fast) and just as I was approaching the old Cawston Farm area what should appear but… a peacock! Are they encroaching on the ostrijes (it’s in the dictionary, although I’m not sure about the plural)? Well, yes, they are. Actually, the last ostrij is long gone. And the peacock is a surprisingly common sight – but always fresh and fun.

Encountering peacocks often reminds me of an explanation of a Zen realization moment by one of my teachers back when: You’re walking along through town thinking about the things one thinks about and you round a corner and… it’s a pig! That snaps you right into reality. AKA Zen. The Now. The Moment.

Another good example is: you’re in the kitchen getting a dish out of the cupboard and you notice a little piece of something, let’s say broccoli, on the floor, mid-dish-task you bend over to pick up the broccoli and upon standing up again slam your head into the left-open cupboard door. Bam! Back in the moment.

I see peacocks probably about several times a year. I think they once escaped from the nearby botanical gardens or somewhere but they seem to be rather well established in the mini-wilds around the hillsides. Seems rather unbelievable. Maybe they come and go.

Since there are no more ostriches and never were any tigers I’m starting the campaign to change the schools mascot to the peacock. Go Peacocks!

Though, the footballers might get embarrassed.