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Cosmos' Doggie Blog

What’s the Scoop on EarthFair 2013?
posted on: 04/15/2013 - 4:42pm by Cosmos

Blue writes: Dear Cosmos, It’s been awhile since my family attended EarthFair, because it just kept getting more crowded while everything else seemed to stay the same. Do you think it’s worth attending this Sunday’s EarthFair?

Cosmos: It’s very easy for old hippie hounds like us to feel a sense of “been there, done that” when it comes to the 24th anniversary of the largest free Earth Day celebration in the world. Heck, back when we were pups, being green meant you were from Mars, and global climate change sounded like the stuff of science fiction.

While the San Diego EarthFair’s essential ingredients have stayed the same, the planet and ideas for preserving it are in a constant state of flux. And with over 300 exhibitors, even the most dedicated environmentalist, regardless of breed, will learn something.

The eHome exhibit area, for instance, will showcase the latest developments in alternative home-building and sustainability technologies. From the latest advances in materials to resource-saving appliances and products, there is something for everyone who wishes to reduce their carbon paw print.

And remember that Cleaner Car Concourse? The place where you’d go to see “cars of the future” that only Hollywood celebrities ever had a chance of owning and driving. Well now that area is filled with alternative fuel-powered cars almost anyone can purchase today!

But let’s not delude ourselves. The 60,000 people who regularly attend the EarthFair aren’t coming solely to learn about how to get off the grid. They are also there to browse environmentally safe clothes, sample cruelty-free personal care products, see the latest in alternative health treatments, not to mention enjoy entertainment on five different stages and nosh on the best in vegetarian cuisine in town.

So in short, if you’re like me, go for the planet, stay for the food.

Posted in Ask Cosmos | add a comment
Not Your Garden Variety Bug Exhibition
posted on: 04/10/2013 - 10:38am by Cosmos

Dr. Entomo's Palace of Exotic Wonders exhibition, San Diego Natural History MuseumIf there’s one thing dogs like more than a juicy bone, it’s a juicy bug—especially the ones that put up a good chase. But a new exhibition at the San Diego Natural History Museum has me rethinking my approach to small squishy critters.

Fittingly presented as an old-fashioned circus sideshow, Dr. Entomo’s Palace of Exotic Wonders features some of the scariest creatures ever to walk the Earth—I mean scarier-than-cats scary.

Speaking of cats, if every cockroach I encountered hissed at me like the Madagascan hissing cockroach, I would have handed in my alpha dog card long ago.

And thanks to what I’ve learned about the docile-looking giant African millipede, which oozes a poisonous cyanide substance from its pores, I can no longer lick an unfamiliar creature as a means of getting to know it better.

And then there’s the goliath bird-eating tarantula. Are you kidding me? A spider large enough to eat small mammals? That’s the stuff of dogmares and horror movies.

Thankfully, a section in the exhibition that highlights the generally less-deadly creepy crawlies in our own backyard alleviates some of my concerns. Some. There is the small matter of black widow spiders or the horsehair worm, which is capable of turning the Jerusalem cricket into a zombie with an insatiable thirst!

Needless to say, I am now officially turning over a new leaf in that whenever I turn over a leaf and find something crawling underneath it, I will stick to a “look but don’t touch” (or lick) policy. And for anything bigger than my front paw, my first reaction will be to slowly back away.

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Half-Day Summer Camps Offer Twice the Fun!
posted on: 04/03/2013 - 9:40am by Cosmos

Cosmos Blog, Balboa Park, Summer camps 2013, San Diego Civic Youth BalletI have a confession to make: I have a serious problem deciding between two equally fun activities when my time visiting Balboa Park is limited. Fortunately, bipedal pups aren’t faced with that conundrum when it comes to spending their summer days in a Balboa Park Summer Camp.

Over a dozen park entities are participating in this year’s schedule of week-long half-day summer camps from mid-June through the end of August. What’s so great about half-day camps? you ask. For starters, it allows pups K-12 who can’t make up their minds (raise your paw if you know any) to attend one type of camp in the morning (9am–12pm) and a completely different one in the afternoon (1–4pm).

So for example, little Billy can learn to build and fly model aircraft at the Air & Space Museum in the morning and then dig up dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum in the afternoon. Meanwhile, his sibling Susie can wake up to fun with photography at the Museum of Photographic Arts and then spend the rest of the day practicing her paw de deux at a San Diego Civic Youth Ballet camp. As the parental chauffeur, all you need to do is pick them up and drop them off in Balboa Park each day that week.

But I’d prefer that my young children aren’t walking around the Park alone to get to their afternoon camps.

And that’s the beauty of this half-day camp program: camp counselors provide a supervised lunch and escort for all participants regardless of which camps they are attending.

This sounds pretty complicated. How do I get started?

Visit the Summer Camps page at balboapark.org to get an overview of the program. Find the camps that are best suited to your children’s interests and grade level. And then contact the individual cultural organizations that are linked on that page to register. It’s much less complicated than it sounds, and certainly less complicated than doing your own taxes. And as a freelance doggie blogger, I have firstpaw experience with the latter.

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Balboa Park’s Easter Basket Full of Treats
posted on: 03/27/2013 - 11:03am by Cosmos

Cosmos Blog, Balboa Park, Easter 2013, Marie Hitchcock Puppet TheatreFor us canines, Easter time is the one time of year Peter Cottontail gets a reprieve from getting his tail chased off. Our munificence in this matter is necessary in order to ensure that everyone’s Easter basket is filled to the handle with everything from marshmallow chicks to edible chocolate versions of Mr. Cottontail himself, preferably solid and not hollow.

For old hounds like me who don’t receive their own Easter basket anymore, Balboa Park has you covered with some special holiday-themed treats:

The centerpiece of any Easter Sunday in Balboa Park is certainly the Easter Lily Display. For 54 years, the historic Botanical Building has announced the start of spring with hundreds of the symbolic white flowers, whose fragrant scent is even detectible by the human nose. Arranged in the garden’s central planters, the white lilies stand out in striking contrast to the greenery that surrounds them.

What would a holiday that falls on a Sunday be without the accompanying free soundtrack provided by the Spreckels Organ Pavilion at 2pm? Once again the tireless Dr. Carol Williams will forgo taking a holiday weekend off to perform a medley of Easter-themed favorites to families and their four-legged friends.

Another performing arts venue in Balboa Park that can be counted on to help folks celebrate any holiday is the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theatre. “Benito Bunny’s Great Easter Egg Hunt” has become an Easter holiday tradition in the Park, with performances throughout the week, including this Sunday at 11am, 1pm and 2:30pm.

So what are you waiting for?  … Hop to it!

Posted in Stuff to Do | add a comment
Cosmos’s Guide to Safe Sniffing in the Desert Garden
posted on: 03/20/2013 - 10:18am by Cosmos

Spring flowers bloom in Balboa Park's Desert GardenIt’s that time of year again, when my prickly nemeses in the Desert Garden are surrounded by colorful and sniffable spring flowers. Talk about a wolf in sheep’s clothing!

In the interests of helping my readers enjoy a puncture-free exploration of all the new sights and smells in the Desert Garden or Old Cactus Garden, here are some important safety tips:

Sniff but Don’t Touch

Whether the flowers are on the cactus plants themselves or in a bed surrounding them, it’s essential to maintain a safe sniffing distance of 6 to 8 inches. Thankfully the canine olfactory system is perfectly suited to distant sampling.

The trick is to avoid the temptation to poke one’s snout or paws in places they don’t belong. Small young cactus stems love to lurk in clusters of wildflowers waiting for a chance to nip you.

Stay on Leash and Trails

Going “off-road” in a landscape filled with prickly plants is the perfect invitation to disaster. A few of the slopes in the Desert Garden are steep and slippery, and you could easily find yourself sliding into an unpleasant patch of spines if you venture too far from the paved or dirt paths.

Though both gardens are well-maintained, there are areas that grow “wild” and are full of surprises, so don’t stray from your leashed companions or you may find yourself becoming a stray.

Watch Your Flank

Many of the beds in the Desert Garden lack a visible barrier or wall, so it’s quite easy to become so engrossed in the photo you are framing that you back into a tall cactus. Or worse, you back into another guest, sending him or her stumbling into a spiny tower.

I can think of nothing more embarrassing than having to cut short a lovely afternoon excursion in Balboa Park so a friend or family member can pluck dozens of spines from your behind.

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