My Friend, the Furnace

I have been worried about my friend the furnace ever since I wrote in my last blog post that it felt good to go outside and be warmed by the sun, not the furnace. I in no way meant to imply that I don’t appreciate being warmed by the furnace all winter. I most certainly do appreciate it, and I enjoy daily conversations with the furnace, too. It’s very talkative and rumbles and whooshes on and off all day long. OK, I have to admit I have never actually met the furnace face to face. It lives in the basement, and I’m too scared to go down there. But, like me, the furnace has a voice that carries throughout the house, and it talks to me quite regularly. It’s a very interesting conversationalist and a nice housemate to have even though, as I understand, it has quite a hefty appetite and insists on eating only expensive imported food. I don’t quite get that part. I myself am quite happy to eat food that grows around here, berries from our field, for example, though not any worms—I’m no dumb robin. But anyhow, despite its unusual appetite, the furnace is a good friend to have.

Finally!

Yesterday was the big day! I went outside in my carrier! I have to admit I felt a little nervous at first, it’s been so long since I’ve gone outside. But I got over that quickly. How wonderful it was to feel the wind rustle through my feathers, to be warmed by the sun, not the furnace, to hear the rushing waters of the brook, to listen to the chickadees chirping. Speaking of chickadees, there were plenty of them out there yesterday but not one robin. Not one. Ha ha. I beat those dumb robins to spring. Ha ha. Now it’s clear that it’s the parrot, not the robin, that’s the harbinger of spring!

Waiting. . .

There hasn’t been a whole lot going on around the bird cage recently. After sipping my morning tea, I usually just relax for the rest of the day, gaze out the window, and wonder WHEN is my person going to take me outside in my carrier? All the snow is gone now, but things still aren’t green, so I guess it’s still not time. Luckily, I have a warm shoulder to snuggle on while I wait for the season to change. And my good friends the microwave oven, refrigerator, coffee pot, and toaster oven to talk with and pass the time. What about you? What do you do while waiting for spring?

I’m a star!

My lack of interest in TV and movies does not, of course, extend to those occasions when I myself am on the screen. When I see my pretty green feathers appear, I most surely do sit up and take notice. I squawk my squawkiest squawks to express my pleasure at seeing an image of my beautiful self on the screen. Click here to see one of the videos my Uncle Tom made of me when he was visiting last summer. I can’t wait for him to visit again. He sure is my favorite uncle!

TV Predators

As I think I’ve mentioned before, I’m not much of a TV watcher. Why sit and stare, after all, when there are so many more interesting things to do—explore the room looking for crumbs, chew on a pencil, shred a book—lots of stuff to do that’s so much more interesting than anything that’s on TV. However, when one of those scary predators appears on the screen, then I pay attention. Just yesterday, for example, while my person was watching a movie, some really scary-looking horses came galloping right towards us. You’d better believe I started squawking as loud as I could the minute I saw them. And my squawking saved the day! Those horses disappeared right away. Phew! Watching TV can be quite exhausting, when it isn’t boring, that is.

Is it spring yet?

I look out the window and see that most of that scary white snow is gone and wonder why me person isn’t taking me out for walks in my carrier. She says it’s still too cold. Maybe she’s right. Even though the white stuff is almost all melted, it still isn’t green out there, but more brown and gray. And I’d certainly feel much safer going out there if it were green. Plus I haven’t seen any of those dumb robins yet. There are lots of chickadees and nuthatches and woodpeckers at the outside bird feeder, but not even one dumb robin pulling up worms. So I guess it’s still winter out there. Sigh. It’s back to the perch for me, to dream of the warm days, green grass, and squawking at robins to come.

Moods

Do you ever get in one of those moods where you just have to bite? That’s how I’ve been feeling lately. The other day I bit my person four times. It wasn’t like I wanted to hurt her or anything, but if she puts her hand near my beak when I’m in one of those moods, what does she expect will happen? She calls it PMS–parrot moodiness syndrome. It happens sometimes. What about you? What do you do when you’re feeling moody?
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