Roo

It's funny how life unfolds. For example, one of my favorite games as a five-year-old was creating pretend cities out of masking tape on the floor of my great-aunt’s basement and populating them with Matchbox cars. Now I'm a professional city planner. Another example is that all through my childhood I wanted to catch a bird. Like many children I spent countless afternoons chasing them in the backyard. I tried sneaking up on them, I tried running as fast as I could, I even tried throwing things over them, never with any luck. Then I grew up and, after living alone a few months, decided I wanted a pet. My apartment doesn’t allow "walking pets" (cats & dogs, basically), so my choice was limited to fish (which you can’t play with), reptiles (which we had plenty of in my family when I was growing up), rodents (which smell bad) or birds (which I always wanted). Easy choice.

Enter Roo the cockatiel, pictured below enjoying a Ramen noodle. I’ve had her about a year now. Female tiels can’t speak, but she can whistle Andy Griffith. More photos after the fold...

Tags: photography personal