Emma is my Postal Person who brings me the occasional letter, card, paycheck, BIRD TALK Magazine, and a plethora of junk mail. She also brings a pile of those local free papers. Because not everyone wants to read them, they place them on a little table next to the mailboxes. I snatch them to use as substrate for my bird “houses.” And sometimes, she brings me a package. One of the things she brings me is the hemp twine I use in making bird toys.

But yesterday was a special mail day for me: Emma brought me a gift from a friend. Melanie Allen is a friend who works for Hagen Foods. A few weeks ago she was setting up a Facebook Page for “HARI,” which is Hagen’s research center located in Rigaud, Quebec. Melanie wanted some help in letting people know about the HARI page. To help out with their message, I put the link up on my FB wall and made some comments about the HARI Institute and what they were all about. I managed to generate some traffic to the page and people began getting some really good information about all kinds of subjects regarding taking care of their birds. Yesterday, Emma brought me a box. And it was from a goat.

Allow me to explain. Melanie has birds of course. But she also has a miniature goat named “Luvie.” Luvie looks kind of like this:

Apparently, Luvie approved of the hand I gave Melanie with launching the HARI Facebook page, so she sent Parker and Pepper some gifts.

This is the toy Luvie sent. It’s great for both the birds and for Mattie the dog. It’s a training toy as well as a foraging toy because the blocks have little slots in them for treats. She also sent some Hagen biscuits for the birds because Luvie knows I can’t get them down here where I live.

But best of all, Luvie sent an autographed photo of herself. I framed it and put it in a place of honor in the guest bathroom. That bathroom gets more traffic than anywhere else in my home other than the kitchen, so it went there. (All my best framed photos are in that guest bathroom. I like the “Captive Audience” concept!) Anyone who drops by will be able to see Luvie:

In case you’re curious about the photo to the left of Luvie, that’s an overhead shot of me lying on the Equator. I always wanted to do that, and couldn’t pass up the opportunity when I was frequently flying to Ecuador.

Well! I was bowled over! I’m charmed by Luvie’s photo and was so thrilled to get the gifts from Melanie. I happen to really like the Hagen line of products, but I can’t get it down here. So I’m happy when I come across it or it finds its way into Emma the Mail Lady’s hands. And during that rainy, blustery day, Parker and I just took a moment to look out the window and remember how lucky we are.

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