Dear Mickey April 22, 2011

Mickey.
     I know you love me, puke is not needed to show me.  Snuggling is proof enough, thanks.  Speaking of showing love, what is this affection you have for your foot?  It's a little weird.  Just sayin'.  Now on to other matters.  Josh lives here too.  Quit treating him like some offensive force to be reckoned with.  He is bigger and paying for your food, so be nice!  While On the topic of being Nice, I am sure Pandora does not appreciate your sneak attacks on her tail from your  *stand's seed catcher.  Next topic, food and digestion.  Eating leads to pooping.  Pooping leads to dirty papers on your stand.  Dirty papers need to be removed and replaced.  Acknowledge this please and quit trying to fight me on this.  You do not benefit from this and will result in you being placed elsewhere while I take care of it.  The wire brush/scraper used to remove stubborn poop will not hurt you.  Stick to head bobbing to the rhythm on the brush and scraper instead of trying to kill it.  My fingers are closer than you think!
     I am thrilled you love riding in the car.  Your expression as cars pass is fantastic.  And we share a certain discomfort of large trucks alongside the jeep.  The difference here is I can refrain from SCREAMING when they go by.  Please realize that while in the jeep, you are perched on my shoulder.  Next to your loud beak is my ear, which is sensitive to loud noises.  Not to mention shrieking is a little distracting.  These people are licensed to drive what they do, please trust that that will not hurt us.
     Now let's talk about your manners. It is highly impolite to announce consciousness at 6 AM with a high pitch "Mickey!!" and wake the rest of us up.  We know you are here, I put you to bed.  I changed your water.  I even kissed you goodnight.  Now please, let me sleep in just a little.  Interrupting people while they talk is not good manners either.  When I ask you to please stop dancing from  one shoulder to the next, do not, no matter how cute I look cross-eyed, push you beak to my nose and "oooooo" to shut me up.  It simply will not work.  On a positive note, I love that you now say thank you, even if it is sometimes at wildly inappropriate times (like when someone is angry and arguing and the opposer makes a point).  We all need a laugh.

*Mickey is an uncaged bird.  He has a large play gym on which he hangs out.  He spends a lot of time off of it  on the couch or chair in the living room.

An introduction to who you will be hearing about

Mickey:  Mickey is a Cassin's (or Yellow-Collared) macaw.  He is about 6 years old and I am his fourth owner.  He talks some and learns new things all the time.  He has never (to anyone's knowledge) bonded to anyone before me.  He is probably who will be mentioned most often.

Naomi: Naomi is a pearl/ pied cockatiel.  She is actually bonded to my son, Kaleb.  Kaleb has to be the only 3 year old with his own bird bonded to him... Of course he is supervised at all times with Naomi and will let me know when he is no longer comfortable with her on his shoulder.

Pandora: Pandora is a female black cat that is due for kittens  in May.  She is less than a year old and there will be updates on the kittens when they are here.

Kaleb: Born December 20, 2007, Kaleb is the best thing to ever happen to me.  Although I only have him Part time, he makes each visit eventful and memorable.  Look for updates on him as well, he is quite a trip.

What this blog will be primarily: A member of a forum began a thread about writing a letter to the birds (it is an avian forum.)  I liked the idea and decided it would be a good idea to do frequently.  Well I do not want to blow up the forum with daily letters to my pets, so this seemed a better idea.  Next post will be a letter to the animals :)