I was going to let Snoball write this blog post, but there was so much to say that I thought it would be better if I took over. Snoball and I both had a very busy day, and so did his baby brother (sister?), Carli - the African grey congo. Snoball's first family purchased Carli from where I work not too long ago, and since they were nice enough to bring Snoball ALLLL the way down to see me, I offered to bring Carli ALLLL the way up to them once he (she?) was weaned. So, today was the big day and it all revolved around two very long car rides. (Roughly 2 and a half hours each way!) Snoball decided he wanted to drive so I could rest a little bit..."Here, Mom, I'll help!"
"Snoball, I don't think that's a very good idea..."
"Why not?"
"Well, because you can't really see over the steering wheel, and you can't really reach the gas pedals, and you don't actually have a driver's license, so..."
"Oh, but Mom, I can do it. Look! See? I just put my foot here like this..."
In the end, Snoball was not allowed to drive. I know, I know - poor Snoball. But to help take your mind off of snoball's disappointment, here are some nice photos of the views from the car:
So after stopping for two bathroom breaks (for the birds and for the humans) and driving for what seemed like an eternity, and nearly getting lost in the boondocks, we arrived at Snoball's house! The house is great and Snoball's family is so nice. They even went out of their way to have lunch ready for us. And not just any lunch, but a whole shmorgas board of vegetarian goodies for me and subs for David. Snoball got in on the action of course - swiping a little from this plate, a little from that plate, and so on. -lol- By the way, where did the term "shmorgas board" originate? What a silly looking (and sounding) word... What is its exact definition anyway? Even when its spelled correctly it doesn't look right... This is distracting me from the story. Anyway...
After lunch we got to see and play with their other birds, and I got a few photos of course. Unfortunately, I couldn't get any photos of their rescued Amazon parrot named Ceasar. He moves a lot and his green feathers reflected the sunlight a little too well, so every shot came out blurry and over-exposed. But I did get some good shots of the others. "The Twinses" are two identical Perfect Lories. They were born and raised together and they're quite small. I'd say they're roughly the size of a cockatiel, but without the long tail. Here's one of them in action - playing on a swinging perch:
And this is Carli - Snoball's new little brother or sister. We all think it's a boy, but we're waiting on the sexing results to come back.
And last but certainly not least is Nikki (I hope I spelled that right). She's a sweetie and believe it or not, she raps and sings and dances. I've only heard her do it once, so I'm waiting (very impatiently) for an encore performance. I brought the video recorder hoping to catch her doing it, but I had no such luck.
We had to leave shortly after that because David had to go in to work. We would've liked to have stayed longer, but, unfortunately, keeping our jobs is too important right now. -lol- Everybody gave Snoball hugs and kisses and spoiled him rotten before we left. He didn't want to get back in the car at first because he didn't understand why we were taking him after he'd just gotten back home. He was nervous when we first sat down and started the car, and when we pulled away from the house he started talking loudly - protesting, I think. So I started to talk to him and I explained that he would see them again soon, and that he was going to come with me and David. I explained to him (again) that he could have fun with us, too, and that his family still loved him very much and they wanted him to be happy. I told him that everybody loved him very much - including David and myself, and just generally tried to make him understand what was happening. (Even though logic says that birds can't completely understand us when we talk to them.) However, I have always been told that I have a gift when it comes to animals, and a "sixth sense" of sorts. I am a very spiritual person - not necessarily religious, but spiritual - and while I was studying Reiki (the practice of using good energy to "heal") a year or two ago, my Master teacher (so-called because of the amount of time he'd spent studying Reiki) told me that I have a certain energy about me that is very good for animals. I've also been told by a genuine Psychic (David's sister) that I have "a way" with animals. It is as if I have the ability to "sense" or "feel" or "perceive" the emotions and sometimes the ideas/thoughts/perceptions of the animals that I come into contact with. I know it might sound a little crazy, especially depending on your beliefs. But I say all of this because you might not believe the following unless you understand what *I* believe...
On the way back from Snoball's house, when Snoball was speaking loudly, fidgeting, fussing, and generally causing a ruckus, and when I was speaking to him - trying to explain what was happening, I suddenly sensed a change in him. And right about the time that I sensed this change, he quieted down. I felt that at that moment, Snoball finally understood the situation. He'd had it explained to him several times before, and perhaps he thought he understood, but until then it hadn't really clicked. When we drove away from his house and I explained everything again, he was able to fully comprehend it. I suddenly felt so sad driving away from the house. But I had no reason to be sad - Snoball did. He got very quiet and seemed to be thinking of something. He stayed this way for a while, and I tried to comfort him by petting him and telling him that I loved him. A while later he climbed up onto David's shoulder and looked at me. This time I sensed another change: Snoball seemed to have accepted it. He was certainly still a little sad, but more importantly, he was ok with it. And it was as if he knew that although he was sad, things would get better. He stayed quietly on David's shoulder for a long time, and finally fell asleep there.
The fact that he fell asleep was very surprising because Snoball is afraid to ride in the car. He is very uncomfortable with it and he gets car sick. Never in a million years would I have thought he'd be comfortable enough to fall asleep in it. But he did...
It makes me sad to think about how Snoball must feel right now. I'm sure he is confused. He knows that he is loved - that much is for sure, but he's just very unsure of things for now. I know that he will adjust and I know that he will be happy with us, because he has been happy for the past week. Snoball really enjoys going out and spending time with us and playing at work with me. But it'll take him a while to get used to his new home. I was told not too long ago by David's sister (the psychic) that Snoball would be sad about the change, but that within two weeks or less he would be back to his normal, happy, bouncy self. She has definitely freaked me out on a number of occasions with her "psychic-ness" and has correctly predicted MANY events in our lives, so I have no doubt that she will be right about this, too.Change can be very difficult for all of us - everyone in Snoball's life right now can attest to that. But I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and I know in my heart that everything will turn out for the best in the end. If Snoball has already accepted and understood the situation, then it can only be a matter of time before he is loving life and laughing again. For now, I'll continue to show him love and help him to have a good time. I don't think it'll take more than a day before we're seeing this happy face again!
Oh poo, now that I've made myself gloomy from talking about such serious subjects, I think I'll go have some chocolate ice cream and play a game of "Plants vs. Zombies." It's supposed to be a kid's game, but it's very addicting. The idea is to protect your house from zombies with plants. Each plant performs a different function, and you need all of them functioning together in order to defeat the zombies. The trick is to organize them on a grid in the best order and in the least amount of time so that you can kill all the zombies before they make it to your front door. I know... >_> it sounded absurd to me too. But the repetition and simplicity of it (plus the ADORABLE plant characters and the cute sound effects) make it very fun and relaxing.
