10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys: they flow between the hills;
11 they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches.
Psalm 104:10-12
Our oldest 'keet passed away this week.
P.J. was Matt's bird for 11 1/2 years, and may have been close to 12 years of age. She lasted the longest of any bird we've ever had, so her presence in our aviary will be greatly missed!
Matt picked her out at the petstore immediately after we lost our first 'keet, Pauly, thus naming his new bird "Pauly Jr." Though he was convinced his new 'keet was a boy, Over time I had to tell him again and again, "Pauly, Jr., is a girl because she laid a couple of (unfertilized) eggs." I'm not so sure he understood why eggs made her a girl, but he eventually came around to calling her P. J. instead... which then stood for Polly Jr.
So, P. J. came to live with us the day Matt and Katherine could not agree to choose one bird, so Dad said, "Get two." Katherine named her first green 'keet, St. Patrick. It just so happened that after getting home and introducing two new birds to a new cage, John came to me and said, "Mommy, you didn't buy me a bird. I wanted one too." So I called Dad and teasingly told him what John had said, knowing there was no way he'd let us go back for another bird, but I was wrong!! Dad said, "Go back and get John a bird." I was shocked!! On the way back to the store, I asked John, "What color bird do you want to get?" and he replied, "I want to get the white one and name him Ghost!" I was taken back by that statement, because at his young age of four, I didn't know he even knew what a ghost was. I had seen the pretty yellow bird and tried to talk Matthew and Katherine in to getting her, but neither wanted the yellow 'keet. I thought, "Surely John would want it", but again, he said, "I like the white bird."
Within a few minutes of us walking in to the store and observing the parakeets, I encouraged John again to consider the beautiful yellow bird, "the sunshining happy bird." I was thrilled when he made the choice and we came home with a pretty yellow bird. John even picked out a name for his new yellow bird, and it was none other than, "Banana". "Banana? Really?" (Why Banana??)
Well, that evening at the dinner table we all told Daddy about our day, beginning with Mommy waking up to find our 'keet, Pauly, dead on the bottom of the cage that morning. We were all very sad, and shed tears of sorrow, but then told him how happy it made us to go to the store to get a new bird, because it was too quiet in our house without a bird as we'd grown accustomed to hearing.
The children each told their dad their own stories about picking out their birds, Matthew first, Katherine second, and then John. When John's turn came around, he said, "I really didn't want the yellow bird. I wanted the white bird, because I wanted to name him Ghost, but Mommy said, "She didn't want a ghost in her house, so she said I should get the yellow one." 👀
The look on my husband's face from across the table was not happy. He asked me, "Why didn't you let him get the bird he wanted?" I explained, but he replied, "Take John back to the store tomorrow and get the white bird he wants." I never thought to take the yellow bird back! I only thought, "Well, four birds it'll be, and oh well, I'm happy!! The more the merrier." The next morn, bright and early, John and I headed back to the pet store to get his white bird. I asked, "John, can you think of a couple of other names you might consider for your white bird?" John answered, "I like Cloud". So I exclaimed, "I love that name! That's perfect!" John was very thrilled to know he'd picked out such an awesome name for his white bird, and indeed, Cloud turned out to be an awesome bird for John.
So that's the story about the two days P. J., St. Patrick, (who was later renamed, Sweet Pea, because she was a girl), Peep, and Cloud came to live with us. Somehow, P. J. learned to rule the roost of our four new birds...
She always had a mothering, loving disposition towards the other birds. She was a very sweet bird, and she brought us much joy and happiness for a little over 11 years.
As you can tell from this picture, P. J. loved to eat carrots! I don't doubt that's why she lived such a long and happy, vibrant life!!
We'll miss you, our sweet 'keet, P. J.
