free bird
monday, july 2, 2001
i decided to move our three birds into their old, more mobile cage and let them stay outdoors, on our balcony. so, i cleaned the cage and put fine crushed shell sand on the floor and sprinkled ripped up lettuce on top of that and set about catching the birds in the old cage for the transfer. they were not particularly thrilled with my large hand in their space, relentlessly swatting and grabbing after them. i felt about as fast, agile and popular as Jason Voorhees.
eventually i had the whole family nervously clutching to the bars of the news cage and to the balcony we went. of course, then i decided i needed to secure the cage, so i found some string and started to tie the cage to the balcony ledge. pleased with my crafty solution, i withdrew my hand to close the door and.. discovered caesar, the dad bird, on the balcony ledge. outside the cage.
no sooner had my mouth drooped open before caesar took to flying off to the tree across the street. and so the circus began. my mom, who is prone to nervous fits, went out to look for the bird and came in telling how caesar was pacing and fluttering on the first floor balcony below us, with our cat staring at him from the ground. according to my mother, the "poor bird" was probably a few minutes from beind devoured. i reminded my mother that the "poor bird" did have wings, you know, and was free to save himself by flutter back or elsewhere should he want to.
in fact, the "poor bird" spent more than two hours fluttering about, investigating our outdoors surrounding before he started to miss his family. eventually he flew back and took to landing on top of the cage, seeming perplexed that he couldn't find a way back inside. inside, cleo and the baby bird squawked on. after a few mis-swats, i finally caught him underneath a large, plastic siv and pushed a plate underneath, carried the cage indoors and let him inside.
conclusion: the family got something new to screech and squawk about, and i felt as cool as the crocodile hunter.
now the balcony feels like italy -- i've forced mom to buy and plant flowers virtually everywhere, in pots and flower boxes and hanging from the ceiling, and with the birds singing exotically when the sun peeks around, i feel absolutely mediterranean.
cin cin.
