Monday, November 30, 2009

Bird Man


The much anticipated Bird Man appeared briefly the other day. Luckily I was able to capture a quick photo just before he had to leave. His bird is a young African Grey Parrot. Parrots have been kept as pets for over 4000 years, being depicted in hieroglyphics in Egypt and also kept by the ancient Greeks and Romans. In the Pottery Mound of the ancient pueblo people a mural on the wall of a kiva shows a woman holding two parrots. The parrot is also illustrated on numerous other pieces of ancient pottery found throughout the world.

Bird Man's parrot is named Lola. I thought Lola was a rather sexy name for a parrot. Later I read Kama is the Hindu god of love and is very often depicted riding on the back of a parrot. I guess Lola is a good name for a parrot and Bird Man's parrot keeps him company while he is away from home.

Bird Man, aka Jose, is a lineman for the electric company. Apparently a lot of the people in this RV park work as linemen and travel around to various parts of the country keeping our electric service operating. Whenever I hear the word lineman, I always start humming the song by Glenn Campbell, so I'll leave you here to enjoy Wichita Lineman.

12 comments:

  1. I always wanted a Furrbe, like a parrot but even more receptive to being taught to speak. I never got one though. My cousin had an African Grey it drove everyone mad with its impersonation of a trim phone ring tone! It was cute though and arrived in a shipment of wood at my Granddads coffin making factory in Leeds UK. It was called Tippy. It got so irritating they gave it away to Lord Harwood at Harwood Hall in Wakefield where it lived with other parrots in the huge glass houses, lucky Tippy I say!

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  2. i always loved that song... my roommate and i had an african grey parrot once. they are known to be one of the smartest birds around... very social though and in the absence of a lot of attention are prone to excessive preening.

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  3. you are living an interesting life while you wait to get on the road.
    Bird man, I bet, is full of stories if you could get him to talk.

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  4. I love Glen Campbell

    We don't hear him any more at the radio. Thanks for that souvenir.

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  5. Greys are very smart and I can easily see where they would be a good companion for a traveling lineman.
    Gee, I hope that song doesn't stay with me today.

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  6. Hi Kitty, I once had a bright colored stuffed parrot that came on a round swing, not sure what happened to it, easier to take care of than a live parrot. That would be terrible to have a parrot impersonating a telephone ring. Amazing Tippy survived that trip. Interesting your granddad worked as a coffin maker. What a wonderful place for Tippy to end up in those huge glass houses, much better than a small cage.

    Hi Jim, I had forgotten the song till I was writing this post and then it immediately popped into my mind and I knew what I could write deown. Excessive preaning for birds, ok unless they end up pulling out their feathers.

    Hi Meredith, yes, I'm finding out lots of folks are full of interesting stories.

    Hi Gelisa, thanks, I like some of his songs and some not, seems as though many songs have fallen out of favor.

    Hi Patti, thanks, I know what you mean the song tends to stick with your mind, but it isn't as bad as some.

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  7. If you go through Kansas City send me an email and I have a very cool old brick bank building maybe we can put together a show. Can't wait to read more. Jennifer

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  8. OMG! I totally love the photo of Jose and Lola. Very intriguing looking fellow. I'd love to have a copy of it to use in a collage. Lineman for the County was always my favorite Glenn Campbell song. I enjoyed your post.

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  9. Hi Jennifer, an old brick bank building, wow, what a perfect place for a show. I have tons of old photos of ghost towns that would be a perfect backdrop and ceramics too. I'll keep you posted on my travels.

    Hi Barbara, thanks, I deleted the photo after I reduced it. I wanted to blow up Jose's eyes for this post, which then I realized I couldn't do since the photo was then too small to enlarge. His eyes are a hazel green color and just beautiful. I've really got to get more organized on my photos again with this new computer. Go ahead and right click and copy this photo if you want. If Jose gets back here before we leave I'll take another photo of him and Lola.

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  11. Hi Linda,

    Thank you for following my blog on Google. I am now following you too.
    I like your blog, it's easy to access, nice looking & informative. Congrats!

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  12. Hi Multibrand, thanks, it is interesting to for me to see what is happening in other parts of the globe such as Indonesia.

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