Journal blue trane's Journal: Peaches 1
2011-10-01
Peach looked sad yesterday when I told her I was going to go. She came out from under the TV stand, and sat there looking at me for a long time. Her eyes and expression (arrangement of feathers on her face) communicating disappointment, unhappiness, sadness. I kept looking at her and smiling, talking to her, asking her if she'd be okay, telling her I would come back in a couple days, asking if I had her permission to go; finally, she closed her eyes slowly at me, which to me indicates that she had become calm, was reconciled to my leaving, and would be okay till I got back.
She is a very expressive bird. She lets me know when she wants me to pick her up, by spreading her wings (she can't fly because of an old injury to her left wing). She looks in the direction she wants me to take her. When she wants a bath she flutters her wings and rolls her head down along her breast and under her wings, as she does when we're spraying her with water...After spraying her, when we blow dry her, her eyes express such contentment and peaceful happiness, and her beak opens in a smile, and she rocks to and fro slowly on my finger as the warm air from the blow-dryer sweeps back and forth across her.
I feel guilty that I can't do more for Peaches and the other birds. I would like to have a big aviary for them where they could be outdoors but protected. I would like to get them sophisticated toys to stimulate their intellectual curiosity. I would like to take them all to the vet regularly for check-ups.
Last night I had a dream: a very tall figure in white with a sad expression. The tall figure seemed to be made up of shorter individuals standing on each other's shoulders; I became aware of faces (covered by the thin white outer garment) in the tall figure's chest. Through the white fabric, I could still make out their expressions, which conveyed sadness, crying. When I woke up, I thought of Peach.
Peaches is a cockatiel (Score:2)
She must be about 15 years old now. She is yellow, with orange cheek patches. She has been very prolific at egg production during her life, having raised scores of chicks. I don't want her to lay any more eggs because she's so old now and it's hard on her body. When she gets mad at me, she goes under the bookcase and broods as if laying eggs. She's laid a few eggs recently, but they have had very thin shells that cracked...