Memorial Day Thoughts...

Memorial Day. I believe I read/heard somewhere "Lest we should forget" . Implying "Always remember". Such credos force a certain amount of living in the past... or at least being influenced by it. Good? Bad? Maybe... Where then sits living in the moment?

For myself, Never/Always are two sides of the same coin. As I live with a Creator for whom all things are possible, I cannot embrace Never or Always. Never & Always are inherently a part of all possibility but alone, they exclude any possibility at all. Where there is no possibility - there is no hope. And I ask myself then, Why try if the cage is all there is.

Gettin' Out ... Steppin' Up!

An update on my Lovebird Companion

Well, Orlando is adjusting. After talking to my Vets and Avian Caregivers, they're pretty astounded at her progress. First off - very healthy physically (all still in wonder that she's not dead) outside of a still elevated white count which may take some time to drop; lower than last though. More blood work pending.

As to her mental & emotional health, Dr. Fern is pretty pleased... "Keep doin' what your doin'." and Dr. Bellinghausen counsels time and patience before looking into a companion for her... "You may just end up with two birds in different cages 'cause they don't get along."

So the journey continues. I'm trying to learn more of his language and he is learning more of mine. He now comes out of his cage with less (if any coaxing) and will walk over to me or step up on a perch with a bit of millet in the offing - still happier about the perching than the getting too close to me but progress is being made. He has a new, larger cage which we're transitioning to; making him comfortable and "safe" there with favorite toys, perches, food cakes, water and a head dunking crock (his version of bathing). We've also played hide the millet in there so he becomes accustomed to moving around the larger space.

She's also learning to try and play me ("Would you play upon this pipe?" - Hamlet). If she chooses not to work out with our training and games sessions, I take the millet away and sit down to read or I do chores. Very soon the irritated screeching and flapping ensues and I'm met with "the back" when I investigate. When she settles down, we start again. Smart bird; my creature family have always been my best teachers.

Another Reflection on Cages…


Recently my neighbor and I caught a lovebird; obviously hurt but we weren’t to know how sick, too, until the next day. Thanks to all the Vet’s and Caregivers at For the Birds. http//www.forthebirdsdvm.com and to the Mended Wings non-profit organization for helping with so much of the treatment cost. Short version: After five days at the Vet – fully three of them in an oxygen tank – two weeks of antibiotics and antifungal meds, a healthier diet and loads of good wishes and encouragement from all involved, Orlando is – against all odds - seemingly healthy physically. We’ll get the last official okey-dokey next Sat.


But that’s not what’s niggling me. This Big Spirit in a little Orlando bird body was probably hand-raised as he is handled for, and takes meds, like a champ. Yet he/she (no telling gender in this species without a blood test – I will use he or she as I choose) doesn’t seem to have had much contact with human companions; handling outside of necessity upsets him greatly. As he was a foundling, there is no known history and no one seems to be looking for a lovebird hereabouts. I began to wonder how long he lived wild with no way of answering my question save observation…

Now that she’s healthier, she’s obviously bored, frustrated and wants out of her cage. Toys are not much help – doesn’t seem to know how to play with them and most often ignores them. Every gentle taming /socializing technique I know at the least irritates her and at worst frightens her terribly. She knows and responds to all the neighbor hood birdcalls for waking, happy chatter, nightly roosting and distress. And she uses the distress call often when I’m about – though that’s lessening. As her wings are clipped (for her safety for the time being) I open her cage for her to come out in living room to exercise and she refuses to leave the cage without coaxing and bait of her favorite treat… spray millet. Even so, when anything startles or she hears a distress call from outside, she immediately retreats to her cage.

He hates the cage; but that’s where he feels safest in the strange world he came to in need. It’s a sad and painful irony to be a party to.

Orlando, with his health compromised as it was, is probably not a candidate for life in the wild. Yet birds that won’t leave their cages or adapt to human company are miserably unhappy, get mean and usually go a bit crazy. Unacceptable for both of us. Another lovebird companion for him is probably the best option – don’t we all need someone to share a safe space with...

But still, now and again, leaving our safest space, (hers and mine) is imperative; Food, shelter and security isn't good enough to call living.

Reflections...

from the Cage

Caged
she paces
Impatient for her
ferocity to return
or in hope that
today
in craving the meat
that is tossed
it will taste good
Savory
like from the wild

Like when bars
were only Creation’s
ebony palette knife
marking a coat of
fire as she rippled
power through the brush
Muscle and sinew
catching glimpses of
sunlight and
flashing it back into
the eye of God
as if to say
Your stripes may
cage my shape but
I walk as I will
You made me so

She is embedded in
my flesh and
I know that gift
and curse are one
in Creation

That is too much
to know

Caged
she paces
You who would
feed her kindly
for your own sake
remember
Even a friendly cage
is redundant

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