Peacock

Peacock
Originally uploaded by Martina.

There is something about peacocks that just makes me happy. They are so pretty with their vibrant colors. I've loved them since I was a girl. One of my favorite places to visit when we'd go to see my grandparents in the summers was this place called Pfaueninsel(peacock island), which was home to a small castle built by Friedrich Wilhelm II for his mistress. The island was crawling with peacocks.

My other favorite peacock-filled venue is Maryhill. I heard somewhere once that they were actually installed to help keep down the snake population, but even if they didn't drive away the rattle snakes, they would be a welcome addition to the grounds. Being used to people, they are pretty unperturbed by visitors, which makes them easy photographic targets. Some of them are downright bold.

Once K. and I went on a picnic there, and they were mooching grapes from us. One of them apparently decided that the wait service was a bit slow, because he started just helping himself from the cooler. Needless to say, he did not leave a tip!