Lakewood's "Bad Weather" BB... Seeing His Shadow?
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 7:35 am
Dear Lakewood Friends:
Ah, here we are at Candlemas, dear reader. If you've forgotten, this date marks the half-way point of winter, and has been a time of celebration and reflection, both for Christians and non-Christians alike.
Of course, over in Pennsylvania where I come from, a tradition developed that perhaps originated in Germany, about predicting the end of winter through the actions of a sleepy rodent.
As many of the old time 'Deckers will remember, for years, our family's "Groundparrot" Gilligan predicted whether wintertime's fun would continue for six more weeks or not. With Gilligan's untimely passing a few years back, we acquired a rather small, but highly opinionated conure named "Badweather" BB.
Although barely eight inches long from tip to tail, conures take second place to none in the parrot world. Some even have a call that closely resembles fingernails on a chalkboard. Like 'em or not, conures will not be ignored.
Fortunately, "Badweather" BB is not a screamer, but is, in fact, rather humanly vocal; saying things like "Gary loves you", "pretty baby" etc., and loves to have his head petted like a kitty cat.
That said, around this time of year, the little guy is up at the crack of dawn, with his eyes on the skies around Lakewood, and this morning was no exception.
Now, of course dear reader, you need to take all of this with a grain of parrot seed. After all, "Badweather" BB is certainly not a certified meteorologist. That said, when I raised the window shade in his room this morning, BB was nearly blinded by the light reflecting from the ermine frosting on the roof's shingles, and from the soft light emanating from the stars and partial moon's shadowy reflections; as they gently gave way to a clear, cloudless, (and sunny) dawn-break.
BB, of course, offered a few choice words upon awakening, as he turned away from the window... and while I could not be absolutely certain...
...I think it well within the realm of possibility that he may have been whistling something about summertime?
...either that, or was it something about letting it snow?
I could not tell for certain...but since BB's shadow was so strong today, perhaps he did not have to say a thing...
Back to the banjo...
Ah, here we are at Candlemas, dear reader. If you've forgotten, this date marks the half-way point of winter, and has been a time of celebration and reflection, both for Christians and non-Christians alike.
Of course, over in Pennsylvania where I come from, a tradition developed that perhaps originated in Germany, about predicting the end of winter through the actions of a sleepy rodent.
As many of the old time 'Deckers will remember, for years, our family's "Groundparrot" Gilligan predicted whether wintertime's fun would continue for six more weeks or not. With Gilligan's untimely passing a few years back, we acquired a rather small, but highly opinionated conure named "Badweather" BB.
Although barely eight inches long from tip to tail, conures take second place to none in the parrot world. Some even have a call that closely resembles fingernails on a chalkboard. Like 'em or not, conures will not be ignored.
Fortunately, "Badweather" BB is not a screamer, but is, in fact, rather humanly vocal; saying things like "Gary loves you", "pretty baby" etc., and loves to have his head petted like a kitty cat.
That said, around this time of year, the little guy is up at the crack of dawn, with his eyes on the skies around Lakewood, and this morning was no exception.
Now, of course dear reader, you need to take all of this with a grain of parrot seed. After all, "Badweather" BB is certainly not a certified meteorologist. That said, when I raised the window shade in his room this morning, BB was nearly blinded by the light reflecting from the ermine frosting on the roof's shingles, and from the soft light emanating from the stars and partial moon's shadowy reflections; as they gently gave way to a clear, cloudless, (and sunny) dawn-break.
BB, of course, offered a few choice words upon awakening, as he turned away from the window... and while I could not be absolutely certain...
...I think it well within the realm of possibility that he may have been whistling something about summertime?
...either that, or was it something about letting it snow?
I could not tell for certain...but since BB's shadow was so strong today, perhaps he did not have to say a thing...
Back to the banjo...