You might be aware of some of my travels in the animal world. The Houston Parrot Festival, The Cincinnati Zoo, the Midwest Bird Expo, Natural Encounters, the BEST Parrot Conference, The Avian Encounters Trilogy Video Premiere and most recently, Best Friends Animal Society are just a few of the places I’ve visited and some of the experiences I’ve had. I do it for several reasons. The main reason is that I am working on a manuscript that will hopefully be a book.

Also, I don’t do “lying around vacations” very well. And these are all things I’ve always wanted to do and places I’ve wanted to see.

Every time I go somewhere that involves working with animals, there is this little haunting going on in my head: “You know, I could live here. I could do this. I think this might make me happy.” And then I come home; exhausted and beat up, but very pleased with the information I was able to share and the things that I had learned. Sanity returns and I’m back to my life. You know the one: Flying, writing and repeatedly washing the floor. Oh, I also have fun and get to hang out with friends; I mean it’s not that bad.

(Michael Popora. Cute, isn’t he?)

I went to the Cincinnati Zoo for two years in a row and immersed myself in all things “zoo.”  It was a crazy thing to do. I mean really, how many people get up at 4:45 in the morning day after day on their vacation to go get crapped on by a penguin, gassed by a sea lion and charged by a pissed-off sandhill crane? Well, me. But as my best friend, Lynne says, “You are just so, so…not right.”

But it wasn’t just the experience of the work. It was the people and their willingness to share a part of their lives, their expertise and take the time to teach me:

Ricky Kinley and Henry

I came home from Best Friends with incredible memories having made many friends and a belief that you can make a difference in the world by making a dream come true. As a matter of fact, every time I come home from somewhere, I think, “You know, this might be a nice place to live.”

And it just might be. I thought, “Working at the Cincinnati Zoo might be fun despite how hard it is. Maybe I should change direction and do that.”

And then I get home and realize that the life I have so isn’t bad after all. While I don’t have an ocean-front home in Florida, I sometimes have a “water-front home:

So it’s really about going out into the world and experiencing it. I come home having been touched by that part of the world, that place, those people. And then, I share what it was like to see those places, do those things and learn that stuff with the people who have the same interests.

When I was at Best Friends, the subject of people moving to Kanab to work there as a way of “healing” came up. Something not right with your life? Hey, move to Kanab, work with the animals and maybe, miraculously, all will be right with the world! Umm, it doesn’t happen that way. Because wherever you go, there you are. And going out to work at BF as a way of working through personal issues and making everything better in your life doesn’t work. I mean, it’s not Lourdes for cripes sake. And it’s still incedibly tough work. You must be equipped and willing to have something to offer Best Friends. If you have that and look to BF to offer you employment and the opportunity to do great work in a challenging field, then you’re good to go. But don’t look to BF to make everything in your life right with the world.

So as I move on, writing and shooting and describing what people, places, events and jobs are all about, I keep learning. Not just about where I’ve been, but where I am now, and where I intend to go. It’s the process of learning and using these opportunities to write about the knowledge I’ve gained from an amazing group of people. These people have so generously given of themselves to help me inform, educate, and edify those who are interested in taking a peek at what these incredible people do:

Steve Malowski and Kim Klosterman

Val

“The Major Dude” at the Cincinnati Zoo

Gary Denzler

Dr. Susan Friedman

Dr. Irene Pepperberg

Jason Crean

Irena Schulz and Sy Montgomery

Jacque and Wendy at Best Friends Parrot Garden

There are so many people that have made this an incredible learning experience. And I’m sorry to say that I haven’t even scratched the surface thanking all of the people who have helped me tell the tale. The people who opened their homes, their lives, their work, and their souls have made my world a better place and my job is to pay it forward by writing about the amazing work that they do. I hope I do it justice.

But the point is, I am a conduit that brings their expertise to you. I can tell a story. It’s my story about my experience with their work. And I hope it has made a difference to you and your animals. My travels, my fatigue, my sweat, work,  long days, airport food and jet lag is worth it.  I see the tide changing as a result. People have become aware of good animal care and nutrition as a result of my work. If I can get just one bird off of a diet of seed, then I will be happy.

As I write this, I keep thinking about Dorothy Gale in “The Wizard of Oz.” In the last scene, she realizes something she learned about home:

“If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own backyard; because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with.”

I will always have my home to return to. But my “True North” is the people who show me what they do, how they do it, and take the time to teach me what they know.  I may have to leave home to accomplish this, but when I return, I have brought home their knowledge with me. And because of this, the journey is always worth it.

Ten years ago, when the Millennium rolled around, I didn’t have birds. My life was entirely different really. I was still on my first of the four total vacuum cleaners I’ve had since then, I had clean carpeting as opposed to the slate tile I have now and it wasn’t cluttered up with crud. I used to happily do three-day trips for work, ramming around the world like it was my back yard. I could take off to see my friend Lynn in Port St. Lucie. I used to go out at night and when I cleaned, it usually stayed clean for a while.

But life goes on with or without your realizing that changes are bound to happen. And God knows they do. My decision to bring Parker into my life was one of those changes that at the time I didn’t think would be that completely earth-shaking. I mean really, how tough could this be? I was trained to evacuate a 757 in 90 seconds flat, and feed 251 people in high heels, a skirt and some guy trying to take whiz in a ginger ale can in my galley!  Man, was I ever wrong! Getting Parker was the toughest thing I ever took on. But I took it very seriously. The guy whizzing in the ginger ale can? All I said was, “Hey! Put that thing AWAY!”

Parker at the controls of a 757

The birds are just one more thing to do, (Well, actually it’s a BUNCH of other things to do.) but it’s a fun thing. Cleaning cages isn’t too bad for me because I put newspaper on the top of the bottom grates as a substrate.  This keeps their “rooms” much cleaner. It’s easier to just roll up the newspaper, throw it out and replace it than to have to take out the grate and wash it. The cage lasts longer. I’ve had Parker in the same “room” since he was very young, almost seven years now and his room still looks almost brand new. Parker and Pepper don’t eat in their cages, they eat on their Wayne’s bottle brush play gyms.

So my life has changed “slightly”; rather it was changed by bring Parker home one fine April Fool’s Day. It changed again when I trained at Natural Encounters, again when I met Dr. Susan Friedman and completed her course: LLP,(Living and Learning With Parrots) and yet again when I began writing about my birds and about Aviculture.

And the hits just keep on coming! My weeks at the Cincinnati Zoo courtesy of Steve Malowski of the Zoo Bird House, and “Major Dude,” Dave Oehler completely rocked my whole comprehension of birds and bird care because my experience now includes looking after some pretty interesting species like penguins, Condors, Sea Eagles, Keas, Hornbills and Flamingos.

This Kea Just had a bath. But I was wet as well from the cleaning her enclosure.

So as you can imagine, it’s been an amazing ride so far. The people I’ve met and the things I’ve had the privilege of doing, (and planning to do!) keep me happy about my decision to turn my tidy life upside-down by bringing Parker home followed by Pepper a few years later.  I do so love them and moreover, I have really enjoyed meeting people I’ve met who feel the same way.

I’ve had the opportunity to share what I’ve learned by speaking at bird clubs and schools, and I’ve been a little shocked at the growing interest in my posts here at “PN.”

Usually when I take something on, I have a tendency to “do it up brown,” and I guess this “bird thing” was one of them. It led me and my writing skills to “BIRD TALK” magazine and the column, “Memo to Parker & Pepper.” The “Memos” are a trifle, a fun thing in the magazine. I suppose it’s a little like getting the dessert after a good meal. Although from what many readers report, they prefer desert first, which makes me very happy!

I’m thrilled about the growing interest in my “Chop” feeding concept. You can read a popular post about it here: “The Chop Blog.” It got people so interested, I was flabbergasted to find THIS on Amazon. Suffice it to say 2009 was a pretty good year for me.

So as I enter the new decade with my birds in tow, I’m probably not going to try and change things too much with a bunch of resolutions and promises to myself. I like my life too much as it is. But I still intend to pursue my adventures in order to complete my manuscript which includes a trip to “Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.” I’ll get on those flights even if it’s something I hate to do on my time off. And as for Parker and Pepper? Well, let’s just say I’m going to try and give them a little more training time, more outings and a little more time to bask in the sun. After all, they deserve it! Here’s to 2010!