I have been going in to the local bird store for the last several years. And I’ve fallen in love with some of the birds that live there. And I have visited them at least once a week. During my time visiting, I saw a male cockatoo named Elmo come in for boarding.
He was only there a week or two the first time. Then it wasn’t long and he was back for boarding again. This time I got to meet the woman who owned him and saw her with him. He was really good for her. They had a chemistry that was palpable.
She said the last time he boarded she noticed he seemed to like a female galah cockatoo who was for sale. Her name was Rosie. When she tried to leave, she saw there was something he still wanted in the store. She could read his body language. Elmo got Rosie.
Elmo returns
The woman was boarding him again because she was remodeling the house of her recently passed grandfather. Birds cannot be around a lot of dust and debris in the air. So for his safety Elmo was to be boarded again until the job was done.
Elmo is a good bird, especially for a cockatoo. Cockatoos are notorious for being cuddly. When the newness wears off and their human is otherwise occupied, often the cockatoo is given less attention. Then they start having behavioral issues. They don’t understand, all they know is they don’t get the same attention.
In the wild cockatoos mate for life. Is it any wonder when we take them, cage them, bond with them and then leave them in their cage alone that they get upset and don’t understand why their human companion “abandons” them?
They can be very loud birds. Cockatoos are the breed of parrot most often re-homed. It is not the birds fault, they are the victim. But for a cockatoo, Elmo is a great because he is friendly and well socialized, but also can entertain himself.
The two cockatoos were at the store somewhere around a year. One day I asked Jeff, the store owner, when Elmo and Rosie would get to go home. He told me the woman was having health problems now and didn’t know when she would be healthy enough to bring them home. Elmo was a good cockatoo, and I wanted to see him get to go home. Hopefully continue to have the good home he’d been in.
New connection
One day when I was visiting I started praying for his mom to recover while I was rubbing his foot and he was hanging on the side of the cage for me, to talk to him. While I was praying and rubbing his foot he made kissing sounds to me. It was adorable, perfect timing and the first time I had heard him do that.
Days turn in the weeks and weeks turn in the months and her health was not improving. She finally gave up Rosie, but held on to Elmo because she still hoped to be able to take him home. Only a couple months later she had to give Elmo up as well. At that point all I wanted was to see him get a good home.
There had been interest in him while he was boarding. People would say they wanted him if he became available, but when he did become available no one took the opportunity. He was available for about six months before I started thinking about taking him. But I couldn’t.
A cockatoo for me?
I live in an RV that cannot be climate controlled if I’m not there. I work 40 hours a week away from the rig. It can get into the mid to high 90’s and even triple digits in the summer time, which means it’s even hotter inside, just like a car. And in the winter it gets down into the 30’s and 40’s on some winter days. All animals would have a hard time in that heat and a tropical parrot would have a hard time in the cold as well, unlike a cat who would just hibernate in the blankets.
Eventually I told the owners I wanted Elmo, but didn’t know if or how I could take him. I said this a couple of times over the course of a month, not expecting anything. I was only verbalizing a desire. There was no expectation, because I was in no position to do or say anything serious about getting him because of my limitations. I loved him and hoped for the best for him.
Then one day they told me Elmo had a deposit put on him. The woman had had a Moluccan cockatoo previously which had passed a few years ago. I was disappointed and would miss him, but I wanted him to have a good home. Her having been a previous cockatoo mom was encouraging.
The following week I heard the woman had come in to see him a week early to visit, and he bit her! She took back her deposit. I was relieved, but still in no position to take him home with me.
What to do
That next Saturday I got a call from Lori, Jeff’s wife, telling me that someone was serious about taking him that day. She asked if I wanted him. I reminded her I was in no position take him home. She said she knew and that he could stay at the store as long as it took. She gave me some time to think about it and told the person Elmo was on hold.
Being at my parents house at the time, having time to quietly think and process the idea was not an option. I did get to talk with my mom, who was surprisingly supportive, and as a result I stepped out in faith and committed to get him. Her encouragement was actually a shock and was part of what played in to my step of faith.
Now, a few months later I am visiting my boy twice a week. I would be going in once a week anyway because I’ve been going in weekly for the last 3 years.
Elmo is my why
I’m stepping out of my comfort zone writing this blog and sharing stories like this. Sharing things that I’ve experienced and continue to experience in regard to losing weight and improving my health is not easy for me. I’m also researching topics that have an impact on our health and sharing what I find. Life seems to be better when we keep things simple. My life, like most everyone else’s is more complicated and less effective than I would like. For things to change, I have to change.
I watched a youtube video where a young doctor reported how a book he read about showing your work, changed his life. He started writing and doing videos about what he was doing and turned out to be financially beneficial for him. People were interested in what he said. And he was giving them value in what he shared.
I’ll be 60 soon and my hope is I can learn from the younger generation how to do this successfully. I’ve had success with both weight loss and in starting to improve my health. And I figure I might be able to provide information that could help others, especially older women like me. It’s harder for older women to lose weight and improve our health than younger people, but everyone is welcome to be here.
For the readers
I have several topics that I think are beneficial for me and as a result possibly others too. It feels a bit like a shot gun approach to various topics. But I will try to organize them in a way that you can find what you’re interested in and skip what you are not.
My hope is to provide valuable/beneficial information to help anyone who reads this site. For them to take and apply what may help them to their own life. And to provide entertainment at times along the way. To create a winning situation for readers and myself so they get what they want/need/like and I can replace my job and bring Elmo home.
Parrots: Simple Happiness in Life