Cloudcover at twilight

After Jake and I got back from our morning walk, I uncovered the birds, and Beaker, our 34-year-old Gold Cap Conure, was dead in the bottom of his cage. He had lived many years beyond his species’ average lifespan. He got everything he could out of life, enjoying coffee and toast in the mornings (he really loved pancakes when we made them). He wanted us to share everything we ate, and we did. He especially loved pasta, eggs, and most any meat. He was a real taskmaster, having us wait on him hand and foot, ringing his bell for service, and always letting us know what he wanted. We are really going to miss him.

Laurie took these three photos of Beaker in February after listening to Bad Bunny’s song, “DTMF.” He sings about how he should have taken more photos and appreciated the time they had together… The lyrics that inspired Laurie to photograph all the animals that day are:

“Vamo’ a disfrutar, que nunca se sabe si nos queda poco…”

“Debí tirar más fotos de cuando te tuve
Debí darte más besos y abrazo’ las veces que pude…”

“Let’s enjoy – ’cause we never know if our time is short…”

“I should have taken more photos from when I had you
I should have given you more kisses and hugs the times I could…”

Beaker loved to take baths

We burried Beaker at sunset

Under stormy skies

Beaker’s grave