HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIRDY!!!

Oh my gosh!!!

Could it be??? Could it be exactly a year since I found that tiny green budgie, all shivering with cold, flightless and lost in the middle of my garden at the advent of a terrible thunder storm? Why, I do believe it is! Exactly a year since Tweety flew into our lives and became a part of this family. And you know, its really the strangest thing how our paths crossed, Tweety and I. I mean, for the longest time ever as I was growing up, there was nothing more that I wanted more than a little birdie to call my own, my best friend. I know, its highly unorthodox (most boys would ask for a dog... or a cat even) but we lived in a rather small house at that time... and truth be told, I really quite like birds. I think they make amazing companion animals... think about it, they don't take up much space, they can be just as affectionate as cats or dogs... and best of all, they come in all shapes, sizes, colours (all those pretty colours!) and they sing, too! So, yeah, I've always really wanted a small little birdy to call my own; a companion animal who was colorful, not very messy, didn't make much smell and who could sing along with me to some of my favourite songs.

Then again, as these stories usually go, something often comes in the way of owner and ideal pet and for me, it was my worsening health condition. Of all the illnesses I had (and I did have many of them as a child) I can distinctly remember the one which caused me the most grief. It was the dreaded asthma... and not for the reasons you might think either.  I mean sure, it was bad that I had problems breathing, especially at night (once, so bad that the doctor had to come and stick this horrible tube down my throat to suck the gunk out)... but the worst part of all for me was my inability to be with anything furry, feathery or fluffy. As an animal lover from such a young age, you can imagine how devastating that must've been. To see the world around me, all those cats, dogs, birds, flowers... and not be able to even be with them. I wasn't even allowed soft toys, by the doctor's orders, for fear they would provoke a reaction in my delicate lungs... and you know I can't recall all the times I had asked for one from my father. Again and again I would bargain. I will get good grades! I will score straight As! Take care of the housechores! Clean the car! ANYTHING!!! But as the years went by, I still never got a bird. I did, however manage to get a small turtle (which I named Greeney) which lived comfortably in a small aquarium on our garden porch until a cat came and gobbled him up! But I digress.

So the asthma came and went, as these diseases sometimes do, and before long I was cured. Still, it didn't seem likely I was about to get a bird anytime soon. Instead my father got me two dogs, and while I would have much appreciated an Avian companion, the animal lover in me wasn't about to complain and I grew to love Blossom and Buffy as if they would've been my first choice. Many years passed and still I was denied a bird, Father said "NO MORE PETS!" but after much persuasion decided, and I quote his words "that if a bird were to somehow fly into our house, and them remain tame around you, you may keep it!" And that brings me precisely to the point this narrative begins, on the tenth of August, year 2010. Some ten years after my father hand said those words. I had come back from University - rushed home, in fact, to evade a storm - when the very same gales which had prompted my early return brought with it a sweet, little green bird, cold and scared as it huddled in a corner of our garden. My breath caught in my throat and I hardly dared believe my luck. Nurturing instinct kicking it, I rushed to it, carried it in and dried it up and from the outset, it was clear that there was already a bond between me and the little bird which just entered our lives. Even my dad could scarcely believe it when he came back from work that day. And that is how, our little Tweety bird entered our lives. Now a year later, my only regret is that he will never be able to read this extremely lengthy narrative in his honour... although in retrospect I expect he will appreciate more a slice of rock-melon placed in the aviary tomorrow.

Our first picture together!!! 

Just chilling out

Tweety with his mate, Polly.

Happy birthday big boy! It's been an amazing year with you!!! Also, would it kill you to produce some offspring for me to play with?!