As I was feeding Fred and George, our parakeets, I had the decidely less-than-brilliant idea to take their cage outside to dump the shmutz at the bottom of the cage. There is a slideout tray I clean several times a week, but the tray below that doesn't get done much, and it really needed it.
I went out on the porch, took the top cage part off and put it down on the porch, thus, I thought, keeping Fred and George in the cage. They were so happy out in the beautiful weather--chirping up a storm....
PB came out and asked if we could let them out for a little bit. I was leaning over the edge of the porch cleaning the cage bottom as I explained that they weren't cut out for "outside" life, and we must leave them in the cage. Then she asked why the door to the cage was open....
I turned around, saw that she was right, and tried to shut the door. I was so close I didn't even need to move my feet to reach the cage, but just as I leaned over, Fred and George literally flew the coop.
"Come back!" I yelled. "All is forgiven". "Come back, Amelia Bedelia". "Nooooo! Fred! George! Please come back!!!!!!!" Nothing worked.
They did look beautiful, flying down Vista St, heading for Boston. Or maybe someplace warmer.
We left the newly-cleaned cage outside with the door open (the door which doesn't stay shut well when off the base of the cage. Wish I had remembered that this morning), and extra food, water and treats nearby, just in case they're still local and want to come home. Sniff....When the kids went biking around the pond later, we looked for them in vain.
I just walked past the cage covering and thought, "I should put them to bed. It's really late", before I remembered. I can't believe I'm having a grief reaction over birds (well, it's a *little* reaction, but still....).
Our plan now is to give Fred and George a few days to come home, and then get new parakeets next week, since we're going to Sam's nephew's bar mitzvah in NJ this weekend, and won't be able to lavish the attention a new pet will need.
Fred and George: thanks for being such great pets. I very much enjoyed hearing your beautiful chirping, and I loved the nice way you went to sleep each night (throw cloth over cage. walk away. no "I need to do Shema". no "I need a drink of water".....). Bon voyage. I wish you good birdie lives. And, should you so choose, remember that there will always be a home for you on Vista St.
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2 comments:
Oh nooooooooo!
If only all pets could be 'lost' like THIS, rather than in the more usual way.
If they don't come back, they'll always be flying around Boston in your kids' minds...
But, CrunchyGranolaMom, what if they do come back, twenty minutes after the new parakeets settle in to their new home? Any thoughts of enclosing the porch to make one HUGE parakeet room? (It would need some heat for the winter...)
I can just imagine a mother, sitting on a bench in the Boston Commons, absent-mindedly telling her kids not to feed the pigeons. "Okay, Mom. Is it okay if I feed the green and yellow ones, instead?"
P.S. Instead of imagining the declaration of an instant bedtime for OTHERS by zipping a cover over their rooms, my fantasies run more toward pulling the cover over my own head and declaring a bedtime for ME inside...
(Who cares whether those outside the cage get to sleep? That's their problem.)
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