Unexpected Guest

I occasionally have weekends that make Mondays seem like no big deal.  This was one of those weekends.  On Saturday I was nearing melt-down point when in came a small blue parakeet.

Yes.  A parakeet.

I was just finishing my laundry when a bird waddled up to me, chirping for attention.  I'm pretty certain our apartment doesn't allow pets other than fish, so a parakeet was the last thing I expected to find in the laundry room.

After informing the manager of our strange visitor, I took her back to my room and constructed a cage out of a milk crate, a mesh laundry hamper, and a handful of knitting needles.  Having no money for birdseed I decided to feed her Cheerios, which took her a minute to figure out how to eat (I'd imagine it's like eating a bagel with your hands tied at your sides).

I have never owned a bird, and only once had a chance to play with one.  I'm more used to rodents, cats, and dogs. The parakeet, which I quickly dubbed Headpet (for her affinity for perching on my head) flitted about my room and tested the perching potential of each piece of furniture and the window shades; experimented with the noise-making potential of my house keys; stood on my laptop and tried to make sense of my homework; and generally never held still.

Fortunately parakeets are diurnal. As soon as I got Headpet in her makeshift cage and turned off the lights, she quieted down and went to sleep.

On Sunday I made a few phone calls and found an animal shelter to take Headpet off my hands, get her some proper birdseed, and hopefully find her owner.  In some sense, having to babysit a bird should've been another stress on top of a big pile of stresses, yet somehow it came off as a refreshing change of pace.  At the very least it makes for an amusing story.  Sometimes getting knocked off our game gives us a chance to start playing something different.

Earworm of the day: Why Should I Worry from Disney's Oliver and Company