LOOKING THROUGH THE BARS

 

I’m tweaking this week’s prompt picture a bit in order to share a special post.  I was hoping this week’s prompt would be one allowing me to do that.  The main focus here, I guess, is the building or the man standing in front of it.  But there is a fence of bars in front of the man and that is what I’m using as an introduction to my post.

Looking through the bars and seeing this cute little feisty budgie I named Shakespeare with personality-plus who lived up to his name by talking a blue streak and kept us laughing and loving him for 7 years; 86 ½ months; 378 weeks; or 2,640 days.  He arrived to be part of our family the afternoon of October 16, 2017 and sadly left us sometime during the night of January 8, 2025. 

That's the simple nutshell version.  Here’s the story from another point of view . . . 

I arrived at my new home rather ignobly in a paper bag and was a little hesitant at the complete switch from being in a cage with lots of other birds, to being the only one, but it didn’t take me too long to begin to make friends, albeit slowly at first, with the new people who advised me they were “Mom” and “Dad”, and who hung around my cage all the time making odd bird-like sounds which I decided maybe I liked and began to copy, much to their delight, and also deciding perhaps life was going to be pretty good in my new home after all.

My cage was filled with all kinds of toys to play with and mirrors where I could admire myself, telling myself I was a “beautiful Shakespeare” and a “sweet patootie”.  I had no idea what a ‘patootie’ was, but Mom always laughed when I called myself that, so I guess it was a good thing.  I also told myself I was a “cutie pie”, a “doll baby boy bird” and a “sweetheart”, not to mention a “precious boy” and a “little blue dude.”  “Oh yeah!”  “You bet your sweet bippee!”  I was a “budgie budgie bird” who knew his business except, well, sometimes I’d get a little too excited about something and have to ask myself “What are you doing?”. 

Mom also called me a “Honey Bunny Boo”, but I wasn’t about to say that.  I mean, come on!   There are limits.   But she said “I love you.” to me all the time and I was happy to repeat that to her because I loved her too. Y

We talked together different ways.  Sometimes I was excited and loud so she’d be the same.  Other times I’d put my head down and push against the bars and she’d kiss my head and then we’d murmur quietly back and forth to each other.  I loved those quiet times.

And she made pretty sounds she called singing.   Sometimes I tried to sing with her.  I could never quite do it, but some of my chirping must have come close because Mom would smile and laugh.  There were times, though, when I didn’t like what she was singing and I'd let her know it!  But she’d just laugh and keep singing anyway.  And sometimes she sang just for me. “Oh You Beautiful Doll” she’d sing to me, “You Are My Sunshine”.  She was mine too.

One of my favorite toys were these hanging bells.  They were fun to bop around, but the bells were also shiny and I could see myself in them like a mirror and liked to sit with my beak pressed up to them.

Speaking of beaks pressed up to things, I had a mineral bar that I liked to chew on and was a great place to rest a beak and ‘chin’ on.  It was so comfortable.  I’d close my eyes and take a little nap that way.  Mom laughed when she saw me doing it and took a picture.

There were times when Mom would get so busy on her computer she’d forget to talk to me as much as I wanted.  At those times I’d peek around at her and maybe remind her with a squawk or two that she needed to come over and give me a love!

If that didn’t work, I’d hang on the side of the cage nearest her and make pitiful little “peep” sounds.  Worked every time!  Either that or I’d get down to that pink mirror below and bang it against the bars until she turned around.  Actually I knew several ways to get her attention.  Standing on a lower perch and flapping my wings like crazy scattering feathers and seed hulls all over the place was pretty much a sure bet.  “Birdie!!!” she’d exclaim.  But she always turned around. J

“Oh yeah”, I loved Mom, and Dad was pretty cool too.  He often stopped to talk to me.  It was Dad who taught me to say “Dirty bird”. J

Mom had this thing in the morning she’d do before she lifted my night cover.  She’d whisper ‘sweet nothings’ to me, then say “There’s a little birdie in there.  I know there’s a little birdie in there.”  Then she’d raise the cover and because her sweet “Honey Bunny Boo” (ahem) had scampered across the perch to plaster himself against the bars of the cage ready to cuddle up to her, she’d say “There’s that little birdie in there.  Hi, you.”  And there’d be lots of kisses and smoochie sounds.  Silly, maybe?  But a great way to start the day!

Unfortunately, shortly after the new year began, something happened to me that could not be fixed – no matter how much Mom loved me and wanted to fix it.  I know she misses her “sweet patootie”, but my spirit is now in a better place where I’m trying to teach the other angel birds to say “You bet your sweet bippee”.  It was one of my favorite things to say and always made everyone laugh when they heard me say it so I thought it would be a fun thing to pass along?

Meanwhile, this is a little finger puppet Mom would tease me with.  She said it looks ‘kind of’ like me?  I’m not sure about that, but it was fun pretending it was another budgie when she’d bop me on the beak with it.  Now she’s pretending this little guy is a sort of ‘proxy’ for me for a while.   I’m a little jealous about that, but if it makes her feel better to hold it and pretend she’s holding me, I guess that’s okay.

Mom knows my mischievous little dickens (her words) of a spirit has flown over the rainbow with all the other happy little blue birds (what a wild trip that was), but she wanted to keep my body close, so she wrapped it in tissue paper and slipped it into a stainless steel thermos she happened to have.  A little over-the-top, perhaps, but she wanted to be sure no bugs could get to it which is a comforting thought.  Then she set it in this pretty white pot with flowers planted on top.  I’m not sure about the frogs watching over it, but that might be kind of cool, actually.  I mean, frogs eat bugs, don’t they? 

:-> 

La Nightingail

P.S.  Some truths about Budgies

From top left to the right:  Eat, make a racket, preen, exert dominance, burrow, eat more, cuddle, nap, preen, destroy stuff, & poop.

So true! J