What'cha doing?

"Most people want security in this world, not liberty." - H.L. Mencken

One week on and the escapee is still flying around. The green parrot fly-past of last Sunday is not so frequent, but then the crows are not as aggressive either. The cockatoo has spent most of today sitting in the tree directly outside my bedroom window, nipping off twigs in some kind of pruning frenzy, as can be seen in the photo - and calling to no one in particular in that raucous shriek that first caught my attention last weekend. Then it hopped up on to the roof and I opened the skylight and stuck my head through the opening which amused us both. I tried calling several times with no response until I said 'hello' in Turkish when it stared at me, fascinated - by my accent I assume - but nothing I said in any language could persuade it to come close.

In the increasing gloom of late afternoon I have now put a large box on the fire escape in the unlikely event that the cockatoo will try it out as a dry(ish) place to rest in because the grey morning has morphed into an afternoon of constant drizzle rain and chill under a blanket of cloud. I have spent the entire day under the duvet, snorting and sneezing - leaving the cozy warmth only to fidget about the cockatoo or make more tea. I did not go into school for 'homecoming' or watch the orchestra perform, and I feel sad about that, but I am too icky.