Chasing Ideals

More bizarre occurences to report from my days in Wesseling. Tonight the fam and I sat down to sup upon what could affectionately be termed a German version of fondue. Considering the abscence of any vats of hot cheese for dipping or 70's attire I'm not sure the name suits but I can compare it with nothing else. At some point early in the meal the aforementioned parrot, Fay, was set free from her cage to wander about the room. Fay's immediate goal was to get up close and personal with yours truly. One could hardly blame her for the attraction but I was a bit disconcerted by her constant movements behind my head. She first swung Tarzan style from the side of her cage to the back of my chair. I'll never know exactly how that task was accomplished but seemed to involve her clamping down on the back of the chair with her beak then hurling herself over into the perched position. She then began a constant pecking at my back presumably to get a taste of my jumper. It became apparent later that her intent was to perch on my shoulder but I hadn't gotten the hint. She became fed up with the pecking after some time and in a flurry of feathers and wing to the side of my face landed herself on my shoulder. The numbers of feathers shed by the sudden burst was tremendous and added an interesting flavor to my fondue later.

Her previous pecking inspired little or no confidence on my part and so for a few minutes I sat as straight and steady as a man with a rabid and hungry squirrel attached to his crotch. I looked over to her at regular intervals however to attempt to judge whether her look was one of fury or playfulness. Anyone who has attempted such will know that a parrot's face tells nothing. A swift and sudden movement and sharp pain to the right ear cleared up any ponderings however. Then another flurry of feathers and away she was back to the cage. I thought at first that 'twas only a scratch but my hand revealed the swift bloodloss. I retired to the toilet area for further inquiry and was luckily able to cease the flow quickly. Cathrin then applied the customary massive bandage to the area. The reasoning being to prevent that later a sufficient quantity of beard hair be removed by the disapplication of the bandage. I wasn't quite sure of the logic behind this and so left the toilet with the look and feel of one who took a gunshot to the head.

Upon my return to the feather-tasting fondue I wondered at the reasoning behind the sadistic and brutal attack upon my ear. I have established three possible motives. In my formative years I endured such grief for my Dumbo sized ears (name such as "Aer Lingus ears" was one of the favorites) and perhaps the bird was so enticed at the sight of the enormous beauties that he had to have a taste. Motive two calls into question the birds literacy as when I made bread this evening I misspelled the name Fay as "Faye" on the top of one of the loaves. Motive three is centered in my failed attempts to get Fay to say the words "Koko Kusarece." I have achieved "Koko Ku" and perhaps the pressure my repetition of the phrase has placed upon her led to this vengeful rebuttal this evening. Whatever the reason I will spend at least the night and then some looking like a war veteran. It would be nice to have a story of courage or chivalry to explain away the bandage size rather than one of vengeful attack by talking gray bird. If you click on the picture you can see a few more shots of my bandaged noggin. In case you can't see the picture here is the link.
Vengence during fondue consumption