Chief’s Bird Cabin

I came back from New Orleans before Terry since I had a commissioned painting I had to get started. The painting for Margot Knight, had to be drawn in such a way that I could let people lay in the establishing brush strokes at a farewell party in her honor. I had to supervise as people brushed in colorful washes. It was difficult to give up some control, but I’m finding the painting is progressing quickly as I adjust the final painting around those initial colors.

Anyway, I had to pick up Zorro, our Umbrella Cockatoo, from his vacation at the Bird Cabin. Once Zorro saw me, he started screaming bloody murder until I got him out of the cage. Then he was happy as could be, saying “Hello” sweetly and swinging and dancing. I asked if his travel carrier was around, but it wasn’t. I faced the prospect of trying to drive him home without a carrier. I knew from past attempts that he would crawl up my arms onto the steering wheel and nip and shout for my undivided attention. He would cause an accident.

The woman in the shop let me borrow one of their carriers. Zorro wasn’t used to it, but he went inside knowing he was homeward bound. He chewed on the container with a vengeance the whole ride home. That night I let him cuddle with me as I watched TV in bed. He liked to slip under the covers and when I lifted the covers to look at him, he would make a soft playful hissing sound. He snuggled up against my waist making clicking noises with his beak as I pet his back and under his wings. It turned out he was nibbling at my belt loop with his strong beak and almost had it shredded clean 0ff. As I watched “The Walking Dead“, he was content to sit on my knee. I drew him with my digital tablet and I swear he was posing and smiling, content to have my attention.