Spring

You can tell the seasons are changing - the ducks are back in the park. I love the white one...I think there were two in the whole flock. This was taken at Lion's Park in College Place.

A Flighty Visit

A small flock of juncos were enjoying the leaves and small tufts of grass on the side of our house this afternoon. There were probably about two dozen of them all around the truck and our wood pile. They moved quickly, so it was hard to get a good shot of them.

Just Plain Awesome

Today was actually quite relaxing and just another all-around great Sabbath. We slept in a little bit, and then I made a delicious breakfast of hash browns, scrambled eggs, and fruit. Then Jason and I made some music together - he played clarinet, I accompanied on the piano - before we went to church. The church service was wonderful. It was a male quartet (they were all over 50, but they sounded really good) doing old school Christian songs and hymns. Their harmonies were beautiful. When we came home, we made haystacks for lunch and then went for a walk before relaxing in the living room with the fan and popsicles. It was HOT. At 6:00 we headed into CP to have dinner with our friends Tobi and Michael. We had a delicious meal of corn tortillas with a mix of black beans, corn, green peppers, tomatoes, and lime juice. Then we played a game of croquet (Jason won).

Around 8:30, Michael's dad and brother showed up. They were there to watch a movie. Since it was a long movie and we didn't want to stay up that late, Jason and I left around 9, but before we did...I got to do something I've never done before and might not ever get to do again: I held a parrot. Rascal is a BEAUTIFUL bird, as you can see from the picture. His blue is tinged with bright green, and there's a bit of orange and red in his yellow. Definitely the most beautiful creature I've seen that close. Since my previous experience with birds was holding parakeets, this was quite a change. Rascal's beak was about as big as a parakeet.

Though it looks like his huge feet would hurt on bare skin, they don't. He's learned how to rest his claws on people so it doesn't hurt at all. He could make it hurt if he wanted to, but he's a very friendly bird. Michael's dad, Danny, has had Rascal since the bird was 6 months old; he is now a 12-year-old parrot. He will live to be between 85 and 105 years old. Rascal's beak is the most frightening part of him - though his eyes can be kind of creepy, too. His beak can snap a broom handle in half. Parrots have also been known to easily take care of curious cats sweeping their claws through the cage bars to swat at the birds. They simply bite the cat's paw off. Yes, completely off. Fortunately, since he's been raised since just about birth by Danny, and is ver well-trained. The only person he's ever bitten was Tobi, and Danny explains that the bird is very jealous because Tobi took one of the bird's boys away. He didn't bite her hard, but she had a bit of blood and a blood blister for a while, and it left a small scar. Just imagine what it would have been like if Rascal was REALLY mad. Though he did nibble a little bit at my arm, it didn't hurt at all; in fact I barely felt it.

Rascal behaves just as well as a well-trained dog. He comes when he's called, he'll respond to a sharp, "NO!", and he knows what "stay" means. He's a very gentle bird, but he does know he intimidates people. When I was holding him, he dipped his head quickly and moved a little closer to my face, and it made me yelp a little bit. He immediately mimicked my yelp and then attempted to do it again to make me scream again. When I laughed at something, the bird laughed, too - mimicking MY laugh!

When I'd finally given Rascal back to Danny, he put him on the floor to let him explore. He made his way over to where Jason and I were sitting, and since I was warned he liked to nibble on toes, I curled mine up. Jason was wearing sandals and he sat there watching Rascal approach. When Rascal got close enough, he lunged at Jason's feet, and Jason got out of the way just in time. Rascal wouldn't have hurt Jason, but it's still disturbing to see a beak that large and sharp coming at you at 30 mph.

Like I said, it was a fun evening, and I think this definitely makes my year so far. Parrots are just plain awesome.

Spring Babies

My parents are here visiting this weekend, and after Sabbath lunch and a nap (for some of us), we decided to take advantage of the sunshine that had appeared after a grey morning. We grabbed our collection of old bread and headed to the one park we know of that has ducks and doesn't have signs saying not to feed them: Lions Park in College Place. The above sight greeted us at the far end of the pond. There are nine of them there, even though you might only see eight. They were so cute! And they were close enough to touch...though I resisted (it was tough). Finally, enough people gathered that it made Mama Duck nervous and she hopped off the rock where she was keeping an eye on her sleeping babes, plopped into the water, and quack-quacked until all nine of them were safely behind her. Then she led them into some overhanging branches at the edge of the island in the middle of the pond. There they waited, presumably until the crowd went away. The ducks didn't eat much, but it didn't matter...we enjoyed our time at the park thoroughly, thanks to these adorable babies.