and so did Charlie’s. With a quick look at me and a raised eye brow he posed his question without words. ‘Are you going to sing to the garden today?’
I didn’t sing but I left them with a promise of a song later. We filled the produce basket and headed for the kitchen and a morning meal.
Both Charlie and I liked to cook so we always made an affair of our meals. The preparation was like a dance that we were good at. Moving around each other in the kitchen but coming together to kiss or touch often was more of the richness that we shared in our life together.
Michael and Lu joined us for breakfast. As they came into the dining room we felt their presence due to the fingers of the reconnect reaching out ahead of them. The four of us were connected in a cosmic bond that was a puzzle to us but also a blessing. The great feelings we shared due to that cosmic connection were the sanction. Our togetherness brought us peace and balance, replete with a tender softness that tempered everything we did. The counter balance that offsets the good was the fact that when we were not together the rigors of everyday life were amplified and depending on the length of our separation those rigors could become physically painful and for me sometimes debilitating.
We collided into our 4-person full-body hug. The rush of pleasure at the release of all tension, pain, and worry was welcomed before the peace and balance came to us in a warm soft calm. Our conversations were more focused and productive while calm.
Eager to debrief, Michael was the first to speak and he didn’t waste any time getting to the point.
“24 hours is a great deal of time; when and where were you that you were gone for so long Helen?”
All of their eyes were on me but I took my time in answering his question because the importance of what I’d discovered called for the proper drama.
Charlie put his hand on mine for support. Lu watched me but said nothing while she waited.
“I went much farther back in time than I’d intended. I couldn’t think of the date that I wanted right off the top of my head so my request was for the situation that I wanted to see. I’d wanted to go back to when Tut first spread his wings for me and walked to me in that strut of his. You know what I’m talking about?”
Waiting until I got a nod from each of them before I would continue, of course they understood; they’d seen that incredible move of his at least a dozen times.
Tut is my amazing Baby Blue Amazon parrot. He was over one hundred years old when I first met him the previous year. Our meeting was the highlight of a trip to London. He was the property of one Mr. Miles K. Henley. When Miles died, he left Tut to me in his will. He also left me the rest of his possessions which included more money than I know what to do with and the burden of running his businesses. From his vast estate and from all that he left me, Tut was the most prized of his possessions, Tut, King Tut, Tut for short loved me and Miles was impressed by that.
I’d forged a lasting bond with Tut from the get go. Even though he was a vulgar bird whose disposition was dreadfully nasty I fell in love with him immediately. I saw that he was smart and funny and wanted a connection to me. Our connection was due mainly to my persistence in visiting and talking to him even though he called me names and was rude to me. He eventually looked forward to my visits and developed more talents while we were together. He could play the guitar with assistance and he could sing some lyrics using just about any voice that he’d heard. He could have a ‘catch’ with me or a group of people and even though his pitches were pretty wild it was clear that he understood the game.
It was my aim to learn to communicate with Tut using his own language. The language of head bobs, body struts, and whistles and screeches. It was a need that I was sure that I could meet because I’d learned to communicate with the gardens both in the States and in London and, well, all the greenery of the world.
In order to understand Tut completely I employed ‘Red Travel’ to go into the past.
“The reason that I wanted to visit Tut on that day was because I wanted to re-observe that first day that Tut performed his walk for me, showing me his beautiful plumage. Knowing will help me figure out what’s bothering him and why he’s pulling out his feathers again; I’m just sure of it.”
Again I looked at each one of them to get the go ahead. Each nodded for me to continue.
“I saw Tut and he was magnificent. He was in an old Victorian house. I watched him open his wings to reveal the gorgeous colors of the feathers on his under-wing and keep them open while he began his strut and seductive move. I turned my attention to the recipient of that sexy bird walk and was surprised to see another parrot. The parrot seemed familiar to me though I’d never seen her before.”
“Frantic I began to look for clues as to where I was and when I was. On an old fashioned ‘roll-top’ desk I saw a newspaper and it registered to me that I’d gone much farther into the past than I’d meant to. The newspaper had a date that was more than 50 years old possibly when Tut was showing off for his mate.”
“My attention was drawn to the other parrot, also a Baby Blue Amazon. She didn’t have Tut’s beauty but there was something about her that drew me in. As Tut walked to her, I focused my attention on her to see how she received him. She made no sound but she bobbed her head and walked around in a standing circle and then repeated the head bobbing multiple times.”
“When Tut reached her, his approach was respectful as he eased himself up close to her with his wings still expanded. She stood very still at that point and allowed him to encase her in his wings.”
“For an instant I was wrapped up with the two of them and could feel Tut’s love directed to the both of us. The last thing before the lights went out I heard the thoughts of the female bird. ‘I always said that if I was a bird, I’d come looking for you, Tut’.”
“How could it be? Those were my thoughts; those were my words; that was my promise.”
The three of them just looked at me and waited for the rest of what I had to report about the travel. We’d learned not to make assumptions or jump to conclusions when it came to the experiments and research we conducted. We knew that we were observers and needed all of the pieces of a puzzle to actually put it together correctly.
“The portal took me more than 50 years into the past, before I was even born, to see Tut walk that walk. I was specific that I needed to go to the first time Tut marched to me like that. I ended up with Tut while he walked to another parrot with his feathers on display. You guys hear this, I heard the thoughts of the female bird and her thoughts were my thoughts.”
They all carried blank looks on their faces while they were trying to understand what it all meant in the big picture.
The four of us sat at the table and were wrapped in our own heads thinking about what it all meant when Tut’s loud morning screech penetrated the air all around us. Not a second passed before Charlie returned Tut’s identical screech only louder.
Michael laughed and Lu cupped her hands over her ears.
“Helen, squawk, Helen, I love you.” Tut called loudly and in Miles’ voice as he entered the dining room.
“Hey, hey, good lookin’; I’ve missed you pretty boy.”
Giving him the routine that he liked was always a good way to start the day.
Tut saw that Michael and Lu were with us but he ignored them as he focused his attention on me.
