Flying a Falcon

This is a painting Mac's working on and watching him paint it reminded me of one of our trips to England.  In 1996 we would be traveling all over England and spending some time in the Stratford on Avon area  which meant we could visit one of my favorite places, Mary Arden's Farm in Wilmcote.  We've visited it a number of times and always enjoyed it, it looked like a place where real people had lived and in fact they had up until the 30's.
Attached to the farm is a falconry and when visiting there the year before we discovered that I could do a half day falconry course, so when we returned home we booked my day.
What a thrill!  I, along with 4 others (the course is limited to 5 people), were given a short course in falconry, practiced how to tie the jouses one-handed, and walked around the village with a falcon on my arm, a Luggerette Hawk (a Middle Eastern hawk and quite hefty).  Returning to Mary Arden's Farm I was able to get my hawk onto its perch and tie it down one-handed.  I then flew a Harris Hawk and a Great Horned Owl. What an incredible day.
Watching Mac paint this picture makes me want to go and do it again.

An Amazing Day