First, a subject nod to my favorite U2 song. Very grungy!

Want to know how small a 1,752 square foot can get? Just have your sister-in-law and her three rabbits and one love bird take possession of said premises. The rabbits, of course, we’ve had before – they’re the Beastie Boys with Butterscotch, who shacked up with the Beasties following the passing of her first mate Geronimo. They get the guest bedroom along with my sister-in-law Tam, and are, as rabbits tend to be, pretty quiet during the day. They might be mischevous at night, but that’s Tam’s problem and she’s used to their nightly shenanigans.

The lovebird, however, is a different matter entirely. The bird doesn’t really have a name, although Tam calls it or he or she or whatever it is “Big Bird” but that’s – to be brutally frank – not much of a bird name and a cop out, actually. I mean, why not call your rabbit “Bunny” or your cat “Kitty Cat” or your dog “Pain In The Ass”?

(Ed. note: I can hear dog lovers now writing me and saying, why not call your golf game “Incompetent”, but I’ll just ignore their protestations…)

At any rate, this bird is quite the squawker and talker, from the moment the blanket over his/hers/its cage at 7 AM through the time he/she/it is covered again around 8 at night. And because the bird squwaks because he/she/it wants attention, guess where the bird’s residence is? A room typically occupied by people during the day, especially one where there are all sorts of interesting sounds, like – oh I don’t know – the sound of typing, phone calls, and happy phone buttons being pushed.

You guessed right, my office.

Here’s the beast, perched on our roll-top desk just to the right of me. A pretty bird to be sure, but I got over birds a long time ago after our last parakeet died. Oh, and those few days back in our Dracut condo where we found a lost cockatoo on our front lawn and find her owner in the want ads. Now THAT was one cool bird – she’s was fun, entertaining, and extremely intelligent – although one might question just how intelligent the bird was if it got loose in the first place.

But I digress.

With the twins heading off to Florida on Wednesday for my sister-in-law’s daughter’s graduation, I’ve got the brood until Sunday. Judging from how today is going, it’s going to be a long week…