clueless swim teacher focus: fact free parrot menagerie
April has come — and gone. Welcome to May! Nazy and I are very busy at the beginning of the month when we’ll be watching Arrow and Tiger while Melika and Tom are in Bali on a well-deserved vacation. We’re taking advantage of the special time with the boys. I’m particularly impressed with Tiger’s conversational repartee. For example, I knew that Tiger had successfully swam the entire length of the pool in a recent class. But..
“… but you didn’t swim the whole length on your last lesson, Tiger.” I noted.
“Mikala wasn’t there.” Tiger replied — citing the absence of his normal teacher.
“Yes, but Elizabeth was teaching. Why didn’t you swim the whole pool?
“Dan!” Tiger exclaimed. “Elizabeth doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
“Ah! She’s qualified for a senior position at the White House.” I replied. “But you’re supposed to know what you are doing.” I thought.
Tiger is also working with his (pedal-less) bicycle. I volunteered to take him to Mission Park to practice. (I thought this was the best place because he could ride on the grass, which would naturally slow his speed.
“You can’t go too fast, Tiger.” I explained.
“I can stop with my feet, Dan.”
“If you’re going too fast..”
“That’s right, Dan. Sometime the wheels go faster than my feet.”
“If that happens, turn and go back up the hill.”
And, finally, Tiger was playing with Arrow. They started to put a puzzle together, but Arrow was throwing the pieces around. Tiger got annoyed and grabbed a piece from Arrow’s hand. Arrow wanted to play in a box .…
“Tiger!” I exclaimed. “Be nice. Arrow is just a little boy.”
“I want him to focus, Dan.” Tiger replied.
Arrow, for his own part, has learned that he can talk — no complete sentences, but he has mastered mimicry. He can tell you the sounds that a cow, duck, horse, sheep and pig make. He knows all of the letters of the alphabet. He likes to point out ‘crack’ in the sidewalk. And he knows where the nose, ears, head, hand, eyes, teeth and mouth are located — both his and mine.
While Melika and Tom were away, Nazy and I looked for special things to do with Arrow and Tiger. Friends suggested the Summerland Parrot Menagerie.
“Parrot…” Nazy began.
“ … Menagerie, Nazy.” I concluded. “It’s a rescue shelter and boardinghouse for talking avifauna.”
“Avifauna, Dan?”
“Birds, dear.”
The Menagerie was everything promised. When we arrived, the outdoor parrots said…
“Hi” to Arrow and “Hello” to the rest of us.
When I chuckled, the parrot laughed.
“That was ‘at’ me, not ‘with’ me,” I thought, as I shot a nasty look at the offensive bird.
Inside, we were met by a cacophony of screeching feathery denizens. Some of the birds were tried to get attention by dancing. Another, a giant red parrot, had trained a visitor to share his smoothy. Tiger was somewhat ‘off-put’ by the noise. Arrow liked the dancing parrot.
Several parrots were available for adoption, but, somehow, we were able to resist. (Our backbone was especially stiffened by the loud entreaties shouted mostly by the cocktail.)
There was an entire enclosure full of ‘bad boy’ cocktails: each had been returned from adoptive homes three times. The bad boys, deemed ‘permanent residents’, were fond of aggressive and loud behavior. Tiger wasn’t impressed.
The weather was, of course, beautiful. (Summerland is in California.) We had a lunch featuring ‘curly fries’ (for Dan and Tiger) as well as kale and beets for Nazy and Arrow. We also enjoyed the flowers.
Tiger and I read a book about the color red picking on all of the other colors. (But, the number 1 said..”
“No! When red picked on him,” Tiger explained. “It’s not nice to pick on someone.”
“That’s right, Tiger. If somebody was picking on your friend Jace would you tell them ‘No’?”
“Yes, Dan.”
“How about if someone was picking on Mila?”
“Yes.”
“What if someone was picking on you?”
Tiger paused for thought. “I think I’d run away.”
In last week’s letter, I suggested that electing a Republican to reduce the deficit was like choosing a butterfly as a brick layer. I apologize. This was a bad analogy… A bricklaying butterfly would accomplish nothing and the Republicans are, in fact, making the deficit much worse. So, electing a Republican to reduce the it is like choosing a fumble-fingered demolitionist for a bricklaying project… He will make things worse.
Aside: the best GOP use of either butterfly or demolitionist is for the stupid wall. No one is in favor of rampant, illegal immigration, but I would like to see a few facts about the issue. E.g. what is the exact nature of the problem? E.g. Are immigrants really taking jobs? Are they committing more crimes than native born citizens? Are they here because they snuck across the border or are they here because they overstayed their visa? Facts, an arcane, out of favor subject for this ‘administration,' are needed. Anecdotal ‘evidence’ is not sufficient.
“… but you didn’t swim the whole length on your last lesson, Tiger.” I noted.
“Mikala wasn’t there.” Tiger replied — citing the absence of his normal teacher.
“Yes, but Elizabeth was teaching. Why didn’t you swim the whole pool?
“Dan!” Tiger exclaimed. “Elizabeth doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
“Ah! She’s qualified for a senior position at the White House.” I replied. “But you’re supposed to know what you are doing.” I thought.
Tiger is also working with his (pedal-less) bicycle. I volunteered to take him to Mission Park to practice. (I thought this was the best place because he could ride on the grass, which would naturally slow his speed.
“You can’t go too fast, Tiger.” I explained.
“I can stop with my feet, Dan.”
“If you’re going too fast..”
“That’s right, Dan. Sometime the wheels go faster than my feet.”
“If that happens, turn and go back up the hill.”
And, finally, Tiger was playing with Arrow. They started to put a puzzle together, but Arrow was throwing the pieces around. Tiger got annoyed and grabbed a piece from Arrow’s hand. Arrow wanted to play in a box .…
“Tiger!” I exclaimed. “Be nice. Arrow is just a little boy.”
“I want him to focus, Dan.” Tiger replied.
Arrow, for his own part, has learned that he can talk — no complete sentences, but he has mastered mimicry. He can tell you the sounds that a cow, duck, horse, sheep and pig make. He knows all of the letters of the alphabet. He likes to point out ‘crack’ in the sidewalk. And he knows where the nose, ears, head, hand, eyes, teeth and mouth are located — both his and mine.
While Melika and Tom were away, Nazy and I looked for special things to do with Arrow and Tiger. Friends suggested the Summerland Parrot Menagerie.
“Parrot…” Nazy began.
“ … Menagerie, Nazy.” I concluded. “It’s a rescue shelter and boardinghouse for talking avifauna.”
“Avifauna, Dan?”
“Birds, dear.”
The Menagerie was everything promised. When we arrived, the outdoor parrots said…
“Hi” to Arrow and “Hello” to the rest of us.
When I chuckled, the parrot laughed.
“That was ‘at’ me, not ‘with’ me,” I thought, as I shot a nasty look at the offensive bird.
Inside, we were met by a cacophony of screeching feathery denizens. Some of the birds were tried to get attention by dancing. Another, a giant red parrot, had trained a visitor to share his smoothy. Tiger was somewhat ‘off-put’ by the noise. Arrow liked the dancing parrot.
Several parrots were available for adoption, but, somehow, we were able to resist. (Our backbone was especially stiffened by the loud entreaties shouted mostly by the cocktail.)
There was an entire enclosure full of ‘bad boy’ cocktails: each had been returned from adoptive homes three times. The bad boys, deemed ‘permanent residents’, were fond of aggressive and loud behavior. Tiger wasn’t impressed.
The weather was, of course, beautiful. (Summerland is in California.) We had a lunch featuring ‘curly fries’ (for Dan and Tiger) as well as kale and beets for Nazy and Arrow. We also enjoyed the flowers.
Tiger and I read a book about the color red picking on all of the other colors. (But, the number 1 said..”
“No! When red picked on him,” Tiger explained. “It’s not nice to pick on someone.”
“That’s right, Tiger. If somebody was picking on your friend Jace would you tell them ‘No’?”
“Yes, Dan.”
“How about if someone was picking on Mila?”
“Yes.”
“What if someone was picking on you?”
Tiger paused for thought. “I think I’d run away.”
In last week’s letter, I suggested that electing a Republican to reduce the deficit was like choosing a butterfly as a brick layer. I apologize. This was a bad analogy… A bricklaying butterfly would accomplish nothing and the Republicans are, in fact, making the deficit much worse. So, electing a Republican to reduce the it is like choosing a fumble-fingered demolitionist for a bricklaying project… He will make things worse.
Aside: the best GOP use of either butterfly or demolitionist is for the stupid wall. No one is in favor of rampant, illegal immigration, but I would like to see a few facts about the issue. E.g. what is the exact nature of the problem? E.g. Are immigrants really taking jobs? Are they committing more crimes than native born citizens? Are they here because they snuck across the border or are they here because they overstayed their visa? Facts, an arcane, out of favor subject for this ‘administration,' are needed. Anecdotal ‘evidence’ is not sufficient.
For last week's letter, please click here
Nazy with the roses at Mission Park
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