Well, it has been a few day after DoWe DontWe flew to birdy heaven. She was ceremoniously buried under the great oak, which is also known as Bird Boot Hill. All her relatives are buried there. Matty McScrew Loose, Slim Dusty, and Governor Huey P. Long. Her sister, Louisiana (better known as Wheezy) died in California before we made the great migration south.

Now I have one parakeet left, and his name is Lavender Larry. Larry is an English Parakeet and although he’s beautiful, there isn’t much going on upstairs in Larry’s mind. I took Larry out of the big cage and gave him a smaller one and then moved him into my bedroom so he would have company. At first I thought he might be mourning DoWe, because he wouldn’t eat or drink. I tried everything I could think of, but after two days, I was getting desperate. As a last resort, I put him back in the big cage, and suddenly he came to life. I then realized that he recognized his feed cup. The cup I had in the smaller cage went uneaten because Larry didn’t view it as food. He also took a big drink of water out of the water dispenser. I know now that I will never be able to change his feed and water containers. And it looks like he’ll have that big cage all to himself. The best part of the story is – he started singing again. I actually think he doesn’t miss DoWe at all. In fact, he’s delighted and kissing the bird in the mirror. Who’d have thought...

                                                    Another Small Death in the Family

As I sit and write this, there is a small green parakeet named DoWe DontWe who is dying. I’ve had her for many years. In fact, she was hatched in my house in California and survived the drive from there to Mississippi. She looks just like her father. From the time she emerged from the nest, she has hated me, no matter hard I have tried all these years, she still hates me. Now female parakeets are known for being mean, but this one takes the cake. At this point, she is on the bottom of the cage, all puffed up. I would like to hold her and comfort her while she dies, but she will have none of that. I can only watch and wait – keep a vigil. I’m sure she will die some time tonight. So all I can whisper to her is: Heron, fly you home.

Politically Correct in the United States

I went to the gym this morning and saw a Pentecostal woman using the treadmill in a long skirt down to her ankles. My first question was – is she aware that if her skirt got caught in the machinery, she could be thrown off the treadmill and injure herself, maybe badly? I know from first hand experience. I tripped on the treadmill, was tossed off the machine and landed about 4 feet from the back of it. It was painful. I can promise you I won’t do that again.  Besides that, the gym could be sued. There are signs all over the building requiring proper dress. There’s a reason for this. No one made this up because they wanted to offend you. They want to make you safe.

Driving home from the gym, I started to think about other religions who have strict rules about dress. I started to think about all the different waves of immigrants who came to the United States. My grandmother used to tell me how the next wave was hated by the others who were already here. In order to fit in, these immigrants assimilated themselves into society so the hate would die down and they could lead productive lives and have good neighbors. Whatever you did in private at home, was your own business. There is religious freedom in this country, but it doesn’t belong on the outside where you are encountering multiple cultures on a daily basis. There has to be some ground rules that are acceptable to all of us in order to get along. Our Bill of Rights clearly states separation of church and state. There is a very good reason for this. It stops people from killing each other in the name of God. You can’t and shouldn’t push your religion down someone else’s throat.

That’s not how it works.

So please, everybody, if you are going to live in this country, you are going to have to make many compromises. We all have. I have Muslim women friends who wear very modest clothing and I admire them for doing so. They fit into society and don’t wear black robes. I think the Pentecostal lady should wear pants at the gym. Is that too much to ask?