Today I want to honor four unsung heroes.

Let me start first with Sam Jones, our steadfast ASU intern who has worked tirelessly all summer and continuing this fall….and we hope forever…to initiate and complete a very important project, the vegetating and “decorating” of our walk through aviary.  There are gabion planters, made by Sam.  There are raised bed planters, made by Sam.  And, there are beautiful native plants, picked, purchased and planted by Sam.  It has taken on the feeling of Sam’s Place, and it is lovely.  All it needs now are the non-releasable animals to populate it.  Thanks Sam for all of your hard and creative work.

Then there is Ford Doran who came to us with a desire to help.  How perfect that he happened to be a landscape architect and was willing to design the badly needed lighting for the trees around the wetland.  By himself, he cased the area, researched the best options for what we needed, priced all of the hardware and then made a plan.  That in itself would have been off the charts, but he took it a step farther.  In the hot sun, and when he could squeeze in the time, he dug the trenches, assembled the hardware, trimmed offensive tree limbs and installed the system.  It is lovely.  Thank you, Ford, for going beyond the call of duty.

So not to be missed, is Robert Mesta.  Realizing that 6 ½ acres of land from a newly disturbed parcel would spawn a gazillion weeds, he took on the job of attacking the offending flora.  Also forging through sun and heat, he has singlehandedly removed from the ground, bagged and discarded bags and bags of non-native plants….back breaking, sweaty, and thorny work.  Now the place looks spit shined and as beautiful as it was meant to be.  This is hard, unpleasant work.  It is easy to slack off.  But not Mr. Mesta.  No weed is safe in his path.  No invasive stands a chance.  With an eye for what makes a piece of land right, he slaves in the desert landscape.  And, oh boy, are we grateful!  It is lovely. Thank you, thank you!

And, there is one more fella that needs to be honored.  That would be Igor, one of our foster parent great horned owls.  A little background will help explain his heroism.  He was snatched from a nest with his sibling.  Both were horribly malnourished (the sibling died) and as a result of this early mistreatment  his folding fractures from a calcium deficiency have left him with horribly droopy wings…clearly non-releasable.  He became an educational ambassador and was a huge hit on the circuit for about 16 years.  Then he turned.  He began to hate all male handlers and because of this aggressive behavior, it was thought that a job change to foster parent was in order.  What a successful move.  He has been a foster parent for the last 15 years and has raised 30 to 40 great horned owl babies a year since then. You do the math.   I need to mention that he has also outlived 3 wives.  I am honoring him for his protective behavior and his teaching expertise.  If you could see him with his military gait as he patrols the grounds of his territory, you would applaud and respect him too.  I must add that the world would be a lesser place if he had cavalierly been put to sleep because of his deformities…just sayin’.

So thanks to each of you, Sam, Ford, Robert, and Igor for being who you are and for being generous of your time and spirit!  You are each hugely appreciated.