One of my favorite sections of the Botanical Building is the Carnivorous Plant Bog, which features several exotic species of insect munchers like this Pitcher Plant. For me personally, it’s all about the thrill of the chase.

A h…trees, tre es, glorious trees! An d what bette r way to get up clo se and personal with all the different ones in B alboa Park (OK, not as up close as I would normally like) than to go on a Saturday morning Offshoot Tour .

Led by knowledgeable volunteers, the tour’s theme rotates each week, so as you might have guessed, I took the Tree Walk Tour (third Saturday of the month).

We met our expert guide, Jude Mendez, in front of the Visitors Center. He took us on a delightful hour-long walk through the Park, describing dozens of trees along the way. I will never look at these trees the same way again! I can now differentiate between a Moreton Bay Fig and Fiddle Leaf Fig, and I know what makes certain trees drought resistant, like the Gold Medallion Trees near the Old Globe.

Other favorites Jude showed us were the blooming Crape Myrtle Trees along El Prado, the Dr. Seuss-like Dragon Trees by the Museum of Man, and the African Tulip Tree nestled amid the International Cottages. Being with my conscientious owner, I was of course on leash and on my best behavior throughout the entire tour.

I love summer in the park! With so much going on after my mom finishes her work, I get to spend more time outdoors than any other time of year. And beginning June 17, there is something to do every Tuesday through Thursday night until August 28 at the Twilight in the Park event in Spreckels Organ Pavilion.

Lots of friends (both two and four-legged) have shown up for the first performance of the season by Bi-Nacional de Mambo Orchestra. There will be a wide range of music styles all summer, from jazz to Cajun to Oom-pah, but I think I’m especially looking forward to chasing…er…um…I mean hearing the Cat-illacs on July 8. They play rock n’ roll classics, like Elvis’ “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog.”

All my senses are stimulated at this event: lots of new scents to sniff and things to look at, people to pet me, and music to fill my ears. Hmmm, now if I just had a little something to taste to go along with it… OK, now hold on just a second… you know it’s not polite to stare at that nice man’s giant pretzel!

In addition to all the great friends I meet in the Park, I encounter many online as well, including my very talented buddy, Snowball. He’s from Bird Lovers Only Rescue Service, Inc., a non-profit bird rescue organization in northern Indiana that takes in unwanted, neglected, abused, and special needs birds. They do good work, check them out . Snowball is also taking part in a congnitive music study with Dr. Ani Patel from the Neurosciences Institute right here in San Diego to learn more about how Snowball can "get down."

As an extra-special Friend of Cosmos , and the chief underwater correspondent, it is my turn to guest-blog about Balboa Park from my very unique perspective. Cosmos never has the chance to see the Lily Pond from my point of view and so she is giving me the opportunity to write about life on the underside.

Did you know that there are five varieties of Nelumbo, or Lotus, in the Lily Pond? In late spring, they begin their short and intense bloom cycle…and OH! they are blooming now! The next few weeks will be the best time to see these beautiful flowers, with their Nefertiti-like crowns bobbing in the breeze. If you’re lucky you might even catch a glimpse of me drifting beneath the shadows of the lotus flowers. I’m pretty shy, and stay hidden most of the time, but occasionally you might see my whiskers peaking out.

I’ve also been asked to remind everyone that since the Lily Pond was intended as a reflecting pool (with little filtration), it just doesn’t support the fish and turtles that folks release. Many of my smaller turtle friends can’t pull themselves out of the water to rest - and the Park staff must catch them and turn them over to the helpful folks at the Turtle and Tortoise Society. I’m a big, tough catfish, but my little fishy friends (and my little turtle friends) really don’t like the Lily Pond. Please find them a different home! (more…)