No You Silly Parrot, You Don't Want Espresso!

If you choose to take an animal into your life, it is going to change you forever.

It also is a lifetime bond, until one of you goes, that animal should remain with you.

If you can't handle that truth, get a beanie baby. They cost about a buck at the thrift stores.

On the other hand, they can make things much more interesting.

Having finished what I set out to one Sunday Morning, I decided I would like a nice mug of espresso.  Padding into the Kitchen, I snapped on the lights above my head and went to work.  I filled the maker with some water, put in the grounds - full but not packed, and then set it on the back burner on the stove.

Soon the elements were glowing red, and I went to work.

Hello.

I got the box that contained my green coffee beans and decided to roast some decaf.  If you get ...

Hello.

If you get unroasted decaffeinated coffee beans, they are a brown color instead of the green of the regular beans...

Hello.

Pouring them into the popcorn popper, I slid it out to the serving area on the other side of the kitchen window and closed the window down.  Plugging in the popper, I touched the timer on the counter to watch the time.

HELLO!  BRAAAAKKKKK!

What do you want you noisy old buzzard?

HELLO!

My noise detector had started to make it's warning sounds.  You see if you have a parrot in the house, they tend to be quite involved with what you are doing.  A parrot may be "just a bird" or a pet to you, but to that parrot, you are its mate.   They do not form a friendship bond, they form a pair bond or a mate bond with you.  Intensely social, a parrot or other bird will want to be doing what you're doing at pretty much any moment it is awake.

HELLO!  HELLO!  WHATWHATWHATWHATHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Yes, Oscar, I'm roasting coffee.   Want a bean?

HELLO!  OK! HELLO!  HEREWEGO! HEREWEGO!HEREWEGO!H!E!R!E!W!E!G!O!

I've had Oscar since 1986.  He's not at all a cuddly bird.  Named after Oscar the Grouch, he can be quite arbitrary and grumpy.  But he's mine.

Or rather, I am his.

I went about giving Oscar two decaf coffee beans, still warm from the first batch, and went back to roasting batch two.

HELLO!

I guess I had better turn the music down a bit, I'm well into the parrot...
HELLO
zone.

*sigh* Ok, Oscar, what?

The espresso maker was now gurgling away, I had another two minutes between first and second crack on the third batch of beans.

I raised my hand to scritch him behind the neck and he growled and walked away.

Ok you silly old buzzard, have your bamboo stick.

Hello?

The espresso was now done, the water had either been made to steam or deep dark espresso.  I poured it over the...

He-LOW!

French Vanilla Creamer and began to stir it with the Coffee Spoons that my sister had shipped me down from New Jersey for the holidays.  This one had French Vanilla

HELLO!

Chocolate on them so that I was going to get a deep and rich kick of chocolate and coffee and vanilla.

Noticing that the last batch was now on Second Crack, I made note of the time, gave it another 30 seconds for that darker roast I have been shooting for these days, and unplugged my aging popper.  That was the end of the...

Hello.

noise for the morning.  I poured the beans out onto a dinner plate to cool and went on stirring my espresso.

*sip*  Yes, Pat, that was a wonderful cup of...

Urp.  Braak.

Espresso.

Thanks!