Storms in the morning and threats of storms the rest of the day.  Suited my mood perfectly.  

Here is a picture of a dying heron, caught in the oil from the oil slick in Louisiana.  

Here's a closer view.  Those  of you who have parrots probably recognize the pose.

To say that I'm sick to the very soul of what's happening in the Gulf of Mexico would be the understatement of the year. 

I try not to think about it, but of course it's everywhere.  I spend too much time on facebook, watching the updates come through and the angry blog entries appear. 

It's Friday of the Memorial Day weekend.   There's some odd movie on, The April Fools, with Jack Lemmon and Catherine Deneuve and Peter Lawford.  It was clearly created sometime in the 60s; it's been on for over 30 minutes and no one's ended up in bed yet.   

My three little birds are tucked away in their respective sleeping areas, cages covered and dark.  I've been spoiling them too much lately -- too many peanuts and Nutriberries, bits bagels made with white flour, organic corn chips.  On the one hand they should be spoiled and allowed to have whatever they like (except for chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, and avocado, of course); on the other hand, am I cutting their lives short by clogging their little arteries?

I'm going to make a big effort to get up early, early, early tomorrow morning for the farmer's market -- I like it when it first opens.  Everything is fresh and tempting, everyone is mostly awake and hopeful, before it gets too hot and humid and you have to squeeze between crowds of people to hand over money or put ears of corn in a bag.  Fresh potatoes and beans, lettuces, peppers, a cup of Marco's coffee made from his freshly roasted coffee beans, the heavy melons and soft peaches, ropes of garlic.  I always buy too much, but where else can I get local honey and free range eggs and cross-examine the farmer about his grain-fed roasts?

I want to start keeping my blog updated more regularly, too.   

My big plan for the weekend was to work on the book, but I've decided to let it go for a bit longer.  R and I are going to go to the movies and/or eat and/or plan a world takeover -- or something, just to get out of the house.  For the rest of it, I'll try to catch up on my favorite blogs and take several naps.  And not think about dying animals trapped in oil.

Derby Day 2010

Yes, I know it's been awhile.  Work, life, friends, family, strangers, and so on.

Today I finished the first draft of a book I've been working on.  A very bad draft, but finished all the same.  Now all I have to do is fill in details, get the style straightened out, polish the prose, make sure things flow in a logical order, and so on.  Another two or three drafts and I might actually have a real book worth reading.  No sweat!

In other areas, things are fine.  Work is quiet, for the most part.  I have a new therapist I like a lot who seems to know what he's doing, and that's helped a lot.

I received my first royalty check a few weeks ago.  A laughably small amount, but the amount doesn't matter.  I took a couple of pictures of it, in case I ever needed to remember.

The Plot Continues

This is little Flash, snoozing between bouts of scheming with Nicholas.  He has such a beautiful crest, and he's an awesome flier.  I adore him.


Things continue to be unhealthy at work, and I've got applications out everywhere I can.  Personal life is pretty stable; family members and friends all well. The weather here is nearly as bad as it is everywhere in the nation.  Spring cannot come quickly enough.


All my parrots are spoiled and continuing their work on the Great Parrot Takeover.  I no longer pretend I'm anything but a pawn and almond provider in their diabolical plans.

In this picture Nicholas and Flash eye me warily.  Evidently I interrupted some sort of planning session.


I've told all my non-parrot-owning friends to begin the search for me if they don't hear from me for a certain amount of time.  Just in case.

Serious Snow & Safflower Seeds

We've had our second serious snow last night; maybe three inches.  Shallow enough to drive if I had an emergency, but deep enough to stay home with no guilt.

Here's a video of several birds feasting at my bird feeder.  Dozens more birds visited earlier today, so there's not much left for these.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76bOdRzHBCI

So I slept late, took videos, listened to NPR, had a leisurely breakfast, and plan to spend the rest of the day fooling around on the Mac and doing nothing productive.

 

I have a family of cardinals in residence in my backyard.  Here the male helps himself to seed I put out on the rail yesterday.  About an hour later, his mate came over to stuff herself.

The Most Beautiful Green Bird in the World

I ordered some stuff from ParrotNutz.com and they arrived today.

I gave everyone a single Plopz treat to see how they would like them. The Bobbsey Twins ignored theirs, of course, but Charli was brave and tried it. This picture is of her after downing a bite and before delicately selecting another bite. (I'd crumbled it up before putting it in her bowl.)

Her feathers are so beautiful I just had to post this picture. I got some more pictures of her eating, but this one shows off her colors the best. I've never found a way to adequately photograph the brilliance and iridescence of her green feathers -- they literally glow.

The cockatiels are also in fine feather; their feathers are so soft it's almost like stroking a cloud, but I can't photograph that.

Parrots are the most amazing creatures I've ever experienced -- people are fascinating, of course, but parrots are a continual source of wonder for me.