2022—She’s Baaaaack!

It does my heart good to report that Bobo, my Red-lored Amazon, has recovered from whatever had her in its grips for the past several months. After weeks of lethargy, constant sleep, a complete change in her eating habits, a couple of nights at the veterinary clinic, a lengthy regimen of antibiotics, and several more weeks with no improvements, she is suddenly Bobo again. She has returned to her old goofy, curmudgeonly self. Her trademark trail of chili peppers that for decades has marked her path, is back. The dish of raw baby carrots that has been ignored for months, is merely a pile of shredded orange bits now. My avian alarm clock has been rewound, to 6:00AM every morning, starting with a wolf whistle, then two, then four, then shrieks until I call back downstairs to let her know I’m at least awake. The buckwheat seeds which are the only seeds I’ve fed her for twenty years after converting her from an all-seed diet, are back on the menu. She is excited to start the day by touching the target stick for an almond reward (or several) while I read the morning paper on my iPad, something that she’d lost interest in doing while she was under the weather. She frequently visits the window seat (leaving a trail of peppers) to search for pine nuts placed in things she has to figure out how to open to find them. That’s a pine nut and bit of carrot in her beak. She has rekindled her interest in the bird-sitter video that has entertained and distracted her for years when I’m gone. She’s back! And I’m relieved.