April 18 Reunited with Matey

Monday:  After waiting 112 days (since December 27!!!), it was finally time to hit the road and drive to Detroit for my flight to Tampa tomorrow. I booked my trip a week later this year so as to avoid driving to Detroit in the snow ...

Ah ... I KNOW!! "The best laid plans of mice 'n men often go awry" to quote a poet of long ago (whose name escapes me presently--he was Scottish ... John something-or-other). Well, I couldn't help myself and googled it. The author is Robert Burns. I don't remember liking much of his poetry! But back to the snow storm--2" doesn't seem much of an accumulation, but it was blowing snow and the visibility was very low. I don't like to drive in those conditions, but I did! I prayed for safety, and I made it all the way to Ruthanne and Terry without any unfortunate misadventures along the way.

Since I am chronicle-ing (is that a word?) my trip two weeks after it began, I am a little foggy on details. I am unsure if we visited Shelley's the same day I arrived in Detroit--or was it the next morning. No matter. We were invited to come and visit my dear Matey-Bird. Look at his darling little friend, GUS! They are best buddies. They even preen each other! Gus often spends overnights in Matey's cage!

Oh my word ... SO CUTE.

Matey seemed to somewhat remember me!

This is my darling niece, Shelley--the famous author/illustrator of children's books! She was super kind and adopted Matey back in September when Emma moved in to my place with Belle-Belle. We figured Matey would have a very short life if he stayed at the Beach House. Afterall, cats are natural hunters ... and Matey is a very naive and friendly little bird. Shelley, Bob, Matthew, and Nolan have a total of FOUR birds--it's a regular aviary around there. They have three parakeets: Alex, Gus and Matey. They also have a cockatiel, MAX. 

It was so good to see Matey again! What a beautiful little bird he is. He is super happy where he lives. He was so lonely up here living without any bird friends. I am really glad for Matey to have such a nice place to live ... I do miss him though.

I am uncertain if the next pictures were taken Monday evening or Tuesday morning ... we didn't leave until about 4:00 for the airport. Terry is teaching Ruthanne to play pool. She made some very impressive shots, too, for being a beginner. I did play a game or two with them--Terry taught us how to play with THREE, and it was fun. I lost, of course.

I had such a nice visit with Terry and Ruthanne. We played a few games of Scrabble and another word game they are very good at playing! They were very gracious to drive me through rush-hour traffic to catch my flight to Tampa. Flying isn't as fun as it used to be--it can make me a little nervous trying to find the correct gate in a huge airport, getting through security is kind of a hassle ... but finally, I am on my way!