A Bittersweet Day

I am feeling guilty sitting in our apartment this rainy fall Atlanta day because I am enjoying total peace and quiet for the first time in over a year. Our birds John and Yoko have been adopted by someone else and went to live at their new home last night.

We brought them home from the pet store a little over a year ago, and we had a wonderful honeymoon phase, and then a decent post-honeymoon phase, and then I graduated and began spending many of my days at home seeking some rest and peace and quiet and sabbatical... John and Yoko were not very cooperative with that... When I was at school so much I never realized how talkative John and Yoko are all day long, but now though my schedule had changed drastically, their's had not.

The three of us tried to work it out throughout this summer, we experimented with a variety of solutions, but nothing seemed to work, so after much painful deliberation and guilt-filled angst (I wish I was joking, but sadly I really am that feeling) John and Yoko and I decided it would be best to find them a new home. I put some signs up at a few places and yesterday a young man who lives nearby named Ivan called to see if they really were free. He was so excited and called me a few times yesterday with questions and to see if he could come over earlier than we had originally arranged. His enthusiasm helped me feel better about sending them to live with someone else, though I was still sad to see them go, and feeling like I was abandoning them.

A few minutes before Ivan was supposed to arrive I went into the bedroom to say goodbye to John and Yoko and as soon as I began talking to them there was a knock at the front door - Ivan was early! So, we had to rush our goodbyes, but again, it was because Ivan was so excited to meet them.

So today I am enjoying the bittersweet quiet of no constant bird-chirping. I do not regret our decision - I am sure Ivan heaped much deserved attention on them last night and will again today when he returns from school - but it has also been over a year since the apartment has been this quiet during the day, so it will take me some getting used to. On a much, much smaller scale I am sure, I feel like a parent who has just sent their kids off to school for the first day, or to college for the first year; but a difference is that John and Yoko will not be returning. I am glad for all of us, I think they will be better off too, but still I am mourning their departure.

So, goodbye John and Yoko - I hope the two of you will be happy with Ivan. He promised to take good care of you. Get all your chirping out while he's at school and be good to him. I hope Trinity and I's recent Spanish studying will do you some good with Ivan and his family.

Adios y vayan con Dios.