ACE -- The AFA Falcon!

As soon as we knew the independence bowl was going to be host to my alma mater we were blessed to know a dear friend was coming to stay with us for a couple of days. Don has been a friend since my days at USAFA and he was a falconeer back then. He is now at the Academy teaching and is the Officer In Charge of the Falconry team. The game was two days after Christmas and none of the cadets wanted to travel with the bird, so Don packed his bags and headed out with Ace!

The boys had been excited for weeks to have the AFA BIRD staying at our house...when anyone would stop over they would say, "Where is the Bird?" We would tell them, that is Mr. Don and he is not coming for X days. We were pretty sure he would be in some sort of cage, but he showed up riding shotgun in Don's rental car. He came into the house on a leather glove and spent the better part of the next three days on his perch in the house and the garage (colder and he is a cold weather bird).

Here is a picture of Eli getting a chance to "pet" Ace! You can see the mixture of JOY and FEAR in his eyes...



Many of you may have kept up with our facebook posts about the excitement of Ace getting to fly at the game. As soon as they let him go, they had to go to the part of the script that says sometimes the falcons will answer the call of the wild! This sent Don and the cadets with him on a 3-hour falcon chase around downtown Shreveport. Fortunately they found him, and after being mentioned (on ESPN2) as Lt Col Don Rhymer, the officer in charge of the escaped bird, they were able to show the national viewing audience that he was recovered safe and sound!

This is a picture of the boys with Mr. Don, and their two prides and joy...the Porsche and ACE! After the recovery...both Don and ACE were hungry...I think there are still quail feathers on the garage floor...don't worry Trev, they aren't in the Porsche! Thanks Don for a memorable visit!