My dad is lonely. He married the woman I call "Hoochie-Mama" because she promised to take care of him in exchange for her citizenship. I knew this would happen-she's never there. She teaches and has her own life and he's left alone at almost 90 years old after having his leg amputated a year or so ago. She is a few years older than I am and speaks English with a very heavy accent (Dad has bad hearing, so that, plus her accent, well...that's one reason he's lonely) Don't get me started on her--obviously, she didn't expect him to live this long, but his own dad lived to be 100, so she may be stuck for a long time yet. I begged him not to marry her, told him to hire a nurse if he needed help, but he's like a piece of granite when he sets his mind on something.
I'm going to make an obligatory trip because he was trying to talk my friend Carol into driving him up here. Poor Carol, in the car for a total of six hours with the old man! We were thinking about going anyway before he said that. The birds will stay locked in for the entire day tomorrow, but no one is crowded and they'll be fine.
ETA: I'm worried about Lexie-she is breathing heavily. She is over her molt, fully feathered, no symptoms, but sitting on the roost, you can tell she's breathing harder than everyone else, almost with a little grunt, like a heavy person who has just eaten too much and has to loosen their belt. She has bad arthritis in her feet and the cold doesn't sit well with her.
