Kala's Revenge

After a long, lazy morning and a delicious lunch of Grandma's homemade chicken and matzo ball soup, we all visited the nearby butterfly conservatory, Butterfly World, in Coconut Creek. A lush paradise filled with hundreds of species of butterflies, birds, and exotic plants, Butterfly World is truly a sanctuary of nature. Melodious notes from a piano filled the air as we peacefully browsed the gardens where butterflies and hummingbirds flew by in majestic swirls of color and motion.

We took refuge from the heat of the day by touring the Insectarium, a museum of giant and otherwise remarkable insects and arachnids. There we found many things that we were glad they kept under glass. We were further relieved to find that most of the places where these critters naturally reside are far from where we live.

The next exhibit at Butterfly World didn't involve butterflies at all. Instead, we found we would be interacting with birds. At last! After weeks of being subjected to creepy, horrible statues and terrifying wax museums, today Kala would extract her revenge! You may not be aware of this, but Andy has for many years harbored a deep, nearly paralyzing fear of "flying things," the worst being birds. Well, today was the day for Andy to face his fears, as he has been forcing Kala to confront hers throughout our trip.

Andy was extremely apprehensive as we entered the Lorikeet Encounter, a small aviary containing about twenty lorikeets (smaller members of the parrot family), but he began to loosen up as he watched Kala feed some of the birds, which were crawling about her head and shoulders. Never wanting to be left out of anything, Andy purchased a cup of nectar and didn't have to wait long before he was covered in feathers. The presumptuous little beggars started toward him the minute he pulled the money out of his pocket! They know that green paper changing hands means good stuff for them. Once all the nectar had been consumed, the birds grew impatient and started nibbling on Andy's hair, but Andy managed to keep calm throughout. Mostly. As we were leaving the aviary, one of the lorikeets, perhaps dissatisfied with his lot in life, tried to hitch a ride out on Kala's purse. Or maybe he was just going after some more nectar money.

Back at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and after dinner, we were treated to our fifth "Happy Anniversary" cake in six days. Hey, we're not complaining.

We're planning on getting an early start tomorrow, so we're going to call it a night now. We hope you're enjoying following our travels!