It's Quiet Without Cosmo

The way Cosmo greets you for a kiss... Playing hide & seek in her paper towel tube...

Laying low on the perch and listening... Coming close for more attention...

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day. The kind of day that Cosmo likes best. While Pankaj and I didn't want to part with her too early, we decided that yesterday was the best travel day to take Cosmo to Grandma and Grandpa's for vacation. After removing all her toys and perches, I chased Cosmo around her cage for about 10 minutes before I got a good hold on her. I placed her in her travel cage with a full spray of millet and her favorite purple mirror. Then she sat there happily shredding paper towel while I gave her cage a deep cleaning in the shower.

Once everything was clean and dry, we wrapped up the travel cage in Cosmo's bedtime sheet and a heavy blanket. She sat on my lap in the front seat, which was nice and warm because we have heated seats. During the drive to Wyoming, Daddy (Pankaj) would chirp to Cosmo and she would "whisper" her chirps back very quietly and immediately, like she was finishing his sentences. This is a form of communication only the two of them share, and it is very sweet.

After we arrived at my parents' house, I transferred Cosmo back to her big cage. Grandma set up a special table in the sunroom, and Cosmo immediately made herself at home. She probably doesn't miss us yet, but after four weeks, she surely will. And when we come back from India, we'll finally have her little brother Samedh with us, which will be a big change for us all.

Now this morning, it is very quiet in the house without our little "G" (short for "girl"). The table is empty where her cage usually sits, and there is nothing left to remind us but some seed hulls and a few tiny feathers. Since Cosmo started her vacation early, this gives me the chance to mop the floors and clean the windows before we leave for India. I would have done that regardless, but it is so much easier without having to move Cosmo to another room to protect her little lungs. And besides, she doesn't like to sit in "the other room" because she prefers to be in the main part of the house with everyone else. Though we miss her terribly now, and will miss her while we're gone, we know that she'll be in good hands at Grandma and Grandpa's. And as Cosmo would probably tell you (if she could talk), "Every bird deserves a vacation!"