Monday, December 7, 2009

Shedding Tears for Birds

White-eyed_Conure_-_Aratinga_leucophthalma

White-eyed Conure (photo by Dario Sanchez)





 



 



Bilbo
was a White-eyed Conure that I meant to rescue from a California pet store when
I turned 19.  He was there, wild and
green, frantically pacing his cage as dozens of pairs of eyes ogled his beauty
through cage wire and plate glass.  I
don’t know how he came to be there and in those days I barely wondered.  So fierce was his incomprehensibility of his
captivity and indeed, his captors, I later suspected that he had been an adult
bird in the wild when he had been cruelly removed from home and flock in South
America. 



 



My
boyfriend at the time saw my eyes light up with desire for this bird.  He bought Bilbo for my birthday.  Bilbo and I never became friends.  He was too wild for that and perhaps I was
too, spending much of my time at college and work, and when free time presented
itself, I did not spend it at home with this bright beauty.  Despite his neglect he survived until I
graduated from the University of California at Davis with a degree in Avian
Sciences – birds.  I had a degree in
birds, but not as yet much of a degree of understanding birds.  Bilbo had been with me for three years at
that time.  I left him in the care of the
owners of a struggling bird farm while I toured around the country with  a man who would become my first husband. We
visited 48 states and 2 countries in those 2.5 months – and I don’t think I
often thought of Bilbo.  When I returned
to Davis I was told that Bilbo had been kept in a shed and that one day he had
been discovered dead after the owners had been gone for a weekend.  He had died alone, cause unknown, holy
purpose of a life well lived apparently never accomplished.  Except perhaps he did leave this world with
one poignant and painful point – do not forsake a bird, for the loss shall
dwell within you forever.



 



Have you ever
had to juggle multiple claims on your time, and felt remiss that you have not
fully been present in each activity? 
What do you desire, which attaining might harm other beings? 



 





9 comments:

  1. Nice post. I used to be checking continuously this blog and I'm impressed! Very helpful info particularly the remaining section : ) I deal with such info a lot. I used to be looking for this certain info for a very lengthy time. Thank you and best of luck.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Normally I do not read post on blogs, but I wish tto say that this write-up very compelled me to check out and do so! Your writing stylee has been amazed me. Tank you, very nice post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If sme one needs to be updated with newest technologies afterward he must be pay a visit this website and be up to datte every day.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Helo there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it's really informative. I am going to watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. Many people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey there!This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group oof volunteers andd starting a new inhitiative in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us useful information to work on. You have ddone a extraordinary job!

    ReplyDelete
  6. My spouse aand I stumbled over here by a different website and thought I may as well check things out. I like what I seee so now i am following you. Look forward to exploring your web page yet again.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey There. I found your blog using msn. This is an extremely well written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and return to read more of your useful information. Thanks foor the post. I will definitely return.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Greetings! I know this is kinda off topic however I'd figured I'd ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest writing a blog article orr vice-versa? My website goes over a lot of the same topics as yours and I believe wee couuld greatly benefit ffom each other. If you happen to be interested feel free to shoot me an email. I look forward to hearing from you! Wonderful blog by the way!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great post! We will be linking to this greeat content oon our site. Keep up the good writing.

    ReplyDelete