Category: African Grey

The Longest Mile

Timothy Price34 Comments

Well! Five point seven/eights miles to be more precise. While it’s only a mile and a half between mile marks as the river flows, and the treks to the river and back, plus all the winding around on different paths in the bosque added up. This was the longest walk Jake has made with me since he moved in.

One

Beaver point is at the 194.5 mile mark

Surprisingly, I saw a dragonfly. The temperature was around 48º F (~9º C).

Two

Bushwacking on our way to Three

Three. A couple of dragonflies lying eggs in the shallows.

Four

On the way to Five

Five

Six

The Portal to Seven. Seems all portals look the same!

Seven

Jake recharged his pee-shoot in the Rio Grande by a cocklebur bush at the 194-mile marker.

Eight

Søren seemed impressed. Or not!

Spunk: “Why take a stinking 6-mile walk in the bosque when you can lounge in fresh-dried underwear?”

Silver: “Whoa! I can’t beieve you made Jake walk that far!”

Jake was a little slow after his long mile, and got caught in the skeeter net again.

A couple of women were walking five dogs and let two loose to chase the coyotes. Jake was not happy about those dogs chasing his coyote pals.

Coyotes with cranes overhead

Dusk from the spot where photo Two was taken.

Standing

Timothy Price62 Comments

After I finished intensive chemo in 2010, I complained to my oncologist about not having feeling in my fingertips or toes. I asked when the feeling would return. She said probably never. I gave her a disappointed look and grumbled about it. She said, “It’s better than the alternative. Stop complaining, you’re still standing above the ground!” She was right. I had no right to complain. She had saved my life, and following her instructions, I never got sick or had any complications that I’d heard so many people had with chemo. After my second bout with cancer, and even more intense chemo than I had with the first bout, there was no chance of regaining much feeling in my fingertips.

As one might imagine, playing the guitar with numb fingertips is challenging. I started relearning to play the guitar in 2018. I wrote the lyrics to Standing in 2019, but never got a tune or music worked out that I liked. I gave AI Music the lyrics and the parameters for the music, and I finally got a song I liked.

Søren knows what it’s like to be standing!

Standing
By Timothy Price

Verse 1
Numb and swollen fingers
Fumble on the strings
I can’t feel the music
I’m Lost in sonic spaces

Verse 2
My guitar rings in my ears
I struggle with the sound
I’m trying to make some music
A joyful noise is what comes out

Chorus
But I won’t complain
And I won’t shed tears
It’s a miracle
That I’m still here
I won’t go down
Or get torn usunder
Becase I’m still standing
Above the ground

Bridge
Errant notes dangle
Then they Fall
Slipped off strings
And fingerboard
They lie scattered
Across the floor
They’re silenced
Under foot

Otro
Numb and swollen fingers
Still fumble on the strings
I still can’t feel the music
I’m still lost in sonic spaces

Tourist

Timothy Price64 Comments

Pre-dawn

Dawn

Misty, a Mississippi Kite, is staying in Corrales for the summer.

We interrupt this post for a news flash. Søren has Tail Feathers! Yes! You heard it here first. Søren has tail feathers. For those of you who don’t know, Søren is our neurotic African Grey Parrot. Tristan and David got him around 2007. When Tristan and David divorced in 2014, Søren went crazy and pulled out all his feathers. We took Søren so he could live with a couple. He let all his feathers grow back, but he had been pulling out his tail feathers until a few weeks ago. Why he stopped pulling them out all of a sudden I can’t say, but he has figured out that he might be able to fly having all his feathers grown out. He finally looks like a whole African Grey Parrot.

Søren with his red tail feathers

The moon finally broke through the clouds for a bit last night.

Birded

Timothy Price3 Comments

DSCF7551

Sophia was begging to get out and sit on me while I was sitting at the table working on photos at Tristan’s and David’s. Apparently I remind her of her previous owner and she got very excited to be out with me, started grooming me, and regurgitating for me, which is a very loving gesture coming from an African Grey! There is a family of quail in their back yard. Mama and papa quail sit on top of the wall and act bewildered that the chicks can’t get up on the wall with them. The chicks blend into the bark, mulch and wall.

QuailPair

QuailFamily

Lights, Action, Birds

Timothy Price1 Comment

BlueLights

We went in to see how Tristan organized her study space when we dropped her off after school late this afternoon, and I noticed the lights in their stairwell made a very nice design. Sophia always does the same pose whenever she sees a camera — a kind of pensive, sultry look — and René, the Eclectus parrot former known as Joey, is looking really good these days.  Tristan said she noticed that René is not the brightest bird on the block, but then she is comparing him to her African Greys. Most parrots have intellects comparable to 2 to 3 year old children; whereas African Greys have intellects comparable to 5 year old children. So while most parrots are very interactive, inquisitive, and can often mimic people very well, African Greys can actually reason with you.

Sophia

Rene