Little bird of blue

The rays of sun beamed down from the sky laying a thick layer of warmness on the Earth’s surface. The dark yellow school bus happily chugged along the valley’s floor and up the hill to drop off the captives for their usual morning classes. Steeping briskly, as I do, I made my way to room two where I took a seat on the chilled plastic chair that I was expected to stick to like glue. My heavy books were plopped on the table as a sigh of reality takes hold of my lungs. The confining walls lined with large glass sheets let my eyes wander the landscape. The mountains breathe deep breaths of fresh air, I see their lungs fill nature and freshness. The trees sway as the mountains exhale long and slow. The room that I sit in is atop a tall hill that oversees a field. I look down upon the land that lays many feet below, just observing. Until suddenly a small scrub jay painted in blue and black leaps off of the chipped greed roof. My first thought was that his small wings and small body would plummet down to the field below. Instead, he gracefully soared through the open air. He seemed weightless and unbelievably free. I wish with all of my mind and body that I could be that scrub jay. I wish that I could weightlessly jump off of buildings and without a care float through the sky. Instead, I sit heavy and flightless.

Found on flyinglesson.us

Rabbit Birds

The new addition to the habitats brought gobs of campers, all of them swarming around one single enclosure and squealing, yes, even the guys, “awwwwwww.”

About six baby bunnies had been born, and them and their mother “Waffles” were sharing a habitat with some frisky Indian Ringneck Parakeets. Most of the parakeets were friendly and would allow to stroking and feeding, while some others preferred to stay away.

The friendliest parakeets were the most troublesome. One particular parakeet liked to peck at my bracelets, the jewels on my shirt, my necklace, and on occasion, even my teeth. “The like to eat the plaque on your teeth,” I was told.

Eeeewwwww.

I preferred to play with the birds than the baby bunnies. Sure the bunnies were cute and all but they didn’t do much but sit on your lap and sleep. A lot of the times I was in the enclosure with my partner, he would sit on the ground and play with the bunnies. I liked to put birds on his head, and often times he wouldn’t notice until the bird hopped onto his shoulder.

The biggest, meanest bird in the enclosure was King Tut, an Alexandrine Ringneck Parakeet. Ok, he wasn’t really mean per say but he wouldn’t stand for petting whatsoever. He did like to be hand-fed bird treats, which look remarkably like human cereal.

The treats come in a variety of colours and shapes, and I believed King Tut’s was the yellow banana-shaped one. Louie preferred the smaller, rounder ones while Dewy liked any and all of them.

Or maybe it was the other way around.

I would have one parakeet on each shoulder and feed them treats one at a time. When I went to feed one bird the other would get annoyed and peck at my ear. When I went to feed him the other bird would pull at my hair. They were like little children with sharp beaks and small talons. I would leave the class with crunched up bird treats littering my shoulders.

I had always loved birds but I had never really considered having a pet bird until I spent a week with those annoying little parakeets. It’s a shame my school doesn’t allow pets.

Emu Drum Solo

In my summer camp, we had a program called the ASIT program. ASIT stands for “Assistant Specialist in Training,” and they’re basically advanced campers that are between campers and counselors.

Many campers become ASITs, but just as many, perhaps more, don’t get the sacred letter. ASITs get to dig a little deeper into the camp; doing the behind-the-scenes work such as cleaning pastures and and taking care of new and baby animals. They are almost the equivalent to “student leaders,” or “prefects,” for any dormers out there.

There are three things you can do to increase your chances of being an ASIT. First is join the ASIT for a Day class, which is an hour of trust-building games and another hour of showing us the jobs of an ASIT. Meaning we have to clean a large enclosure, such as the barn or Lemur Island.

The second thing to do is to write a letter to Lori, one of our camp directors, about what you could bring to the ASIT program. It’s similar to a college application letter, in which you have to sell yourself fully. The third thing is to get a letter of recommendation from one of your counselors, which is something campers generally can’t control.

Hanging by our cafeteria are about two dozen hammocks of various shapes and sizes. After lunch my cabin sits in the hammocks and we wait for Free Time to start. I usually write in my journal during that time.

He had dark, curly hair, stocky body, olive-colored cap, light blue shirt, and was comfortably writing in a large, colorful book. He was an ASIT, and was sitting a little in front and to the right of me. The fact that he was also writing, I think poetry, caught my eye.

At the end of the session, he got up on stage during Skit Night and told us how he mucked out the Back Pastures for four hours. Then he grabbed a rake and started singing.

More than a dozen emus reside in the Back Pastures, and emus tend to make a peculiar drum-sounding sound deep in their chests. In the middle of the ASIT’s songs, he struck a pose, pointed in the direction of the Back Pastures, and declared “Emu Drum Solo!” He held that pose for about 30 seconds.

Every time we would try to laugh he would shush us harshly. He even started over once because he was so determined to perform the song perfectly “Four hours!” he yelled at us, “I was out there for four hours!”

Demon Geese

It was hot and muggy, just another day in Missouri. The peacocks were calling, the insects were buzzing, and complaints could be heard all around. I remember walking quietly to my next course when several horrified children run past me.

They were screaming “DEMON GEESE!!”

Goose

No, not really.

We did have three fairly aggressive geese roaming the camp though. Whenever someone would walk just a tad too close to them those darned birds would start honking and pecking at their feet, occasionally giving actual chase. Sometimes they would ignore the accidental provoker and attack an innocent bystander instead.

HONK

Honestly those three geese were sort of cowards. They pretend to be all scary but really they just bluff and honk, I’ve never heard of them actually inflicting damage on any camper.

One of my best friends during camp liked to holler and chase them back to the lake, while I personally liked to slowly wander closer to them until I got them mad. Then I let them chase me around a little until I have to get to my classes.

The honest question here is why are geese always so angry?

Maybe because we don’t take them seriously enough.

A valiant soldier

Red never thought this day would come. He had been drafted. He had overheard the officers saying that this war was a lost cause and the draft was a death sentence. A soldier’s life wasn’t valued in this army.

He worked in basic training for a year becoming the most battle ready soldier in the military.

The time came for his first battle. The officers told him the future was at stake.

He approached his position and got in.

He was flung through the air at great speed.

He was honored in a way only the angriest of birds can.

3 Stars.

New Pets!

I absolutely love animals more than anything. I really do. I love wild animals, and of course, I love pets!

Over the years, my family has had cats, birds, bunnies, guinea pigs, and fish. They have all been pretty amazing pets.

But sadly, this past year, 2 of my cats have died, and the one still living has a fist-sized tumor in his liver. My parents took my cat Smokey to the vet, and she told us we will have to put him down within the next week if he survives for that long. I will miss his so much.

When I found out about it, I couldn’t imagine coming home to a house without my cats, or any pets at all for that matter. So, I was VERY happily surprised when my Mom told me she is going to get a puppy and two kittens!!!

I am completely overwhelmed with excitement right now. My family has never had a dog before. Ever. I have always been so jealous of my friends and other families that have dogs – and now I finally get to have one 🙂

My friend decided she would come help me look for a new dog and kittens that I like, so we took at trip to the Milpitas Humane Society yesterday. There were SO many cute dogs and cats.

I am just so glad my family and I get to adopt a cute animal and provide a home for an animal that needs one.

We’re still searching, and on Monday I am SO EXCITED to go to another humane society with my Mom and hopefully pick out a new member of the family.