Most parrots have an oil gland that drains into the base of their tail, however, this organ is absent in Amazon parrots, which includes Piper. Technically he was hatched in Florida, but his species hails from the forests of South America. The gland performs many functions, including waterproofing and keeping…
Departing Is Such Sweet Sorrow
I have had the great fortune to have visited some beautiful places the last few years, lodging in rental homes with spectacular views. As I sit on the couch looking out the floor to ceiling wall of windows of the current temporary property, the waters of Rich Pass in Port…
From Hubby To Business
From 2010 – 2019 this website was a pastime for me. I took it seriously, the perfectionist in me allowing nothing less, but it was easy, it was fun. When I made the decision last summer to start creating new content after four years away, it stopped being a hobby…
Piper & Me: A Love Story (Part 9.5)
Sister Rain’s Note: In July 2015 I began a series of posts about Piper, my now 17-year-old orange-fronted conure (a type of parrot) who adopted Mister Rain and me when he was 6. I don’t intend to republish previous content on this site but I think the story of Piper…
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier You are 14,411 feet in elevation. You are the highest mountain in Washington. You are elusive, visible only 60% of the time. You show yourself best in summer. In the 30 total days we’ve spent in the Seattle area, all during football season, you have revealed yourself 10…
Bed Bath & Happy
I have slept in the same bed for 36 years. I purchased it with a dresser, bureau, living room set and dining room table with 4 chairs in 1988 when I moved out of my parents’ home and into my first apartment. A few years later, I would meet my…
In Plane View
As I sit looking out the familiar oblong airplane window, I am able to make out the sky, its clouds and Iowa below. I have sat in this same scenario over a hundred times, enjoying this view. It is a duplicate of previous sightings, however, I am not a match…
9/11 Memorial & Museum
I have been to the Pentagon and Flight 93 Memorials and they are absolute perfection. I wrote about them in “Flight 93 National Memorial” and “National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial.” We had visited Ground Zero in New York City in March of 2002, six months after that day, viewing the incomprehensible…