banded, tropical bird. Daughter contacted the authorities to inquire if this bird was reported missing by its’ owner. No one in the area reported a “lost bird”. Daughter purchased a large cage and decided to keep this bird as a pet. This bird has an impudent and somewhat nasty personality, attacks people and nips and bites on occasion, which led me to believe that the previous owner may have purposely released this pet bird into the chilly autumn climate. However, daughter and granddaughter believed the bird to be humorous and frequently removed the bird from the cage. One day, spouse viewed the bird sitting on granddaughter’s shoulder and relayed a story to her and daughter about a boy he once knew who owned a parrot that he would invite at times to perch on his shoulder. During the last invitation, the parrot removed the boy’s eye.
Daughter was moving from one residence to another and was in transition while her new residence was undergoing repairs. During this repair process, daughter moved into our residence with some household items some of which were stored in our dining room together with her small pets to include a hamster, two parakeets, and a Quaker parrot. She also temporarily moved back into our home with her pet dog, a Boston Terrier. One “privately” complained to spouse that we would now be caring for four dogs to include our three dogs. Later that day and at about midnight, a family member informed me that our Golden Retriever dog acquired in 2002 and nine years old, was found dead in a room in our home. Arising from bed, one did not believe what I just heard but sure enough, our sweet tempered dog had died with no indication of an illness (the dog had completely eaten dinner earlier that evening and no pain was expressed). One was quite upset with this bizarre circumstance and believed this to be another attack launched by evil against our family. Early the next morning, family members brought the dog’s body to a local veterinarian for cremation.
During this spring and over the course of the past twenty five years or so, I viewed Canadian geese once again flying above our home in a haphazard and disorganized way. Years ago and as a child, I always viewed Canadian geese in this area, flying in a well defined V formation.
Beginning in the 1970’s, infant swings became a popular item to purchase for newborn and infant use. I noted that when using this contraption for our children as infants, a few concerning side effects were evident. One of our children appeared to be mesmerized and possibly hypnotized when placed in the swaying swing. Our other child was terrorized by this device and so was not placed in this apparatus after attempting a few trials. Granddaughter was never placed in an infant swing. Based on our family’s experiences with the infant swing, I have hypothesized that perhaps the infant swing negatively affects the sensitive and newly developing brains of infants. This hypothesis is worthwhile investigating by concerned others. I was reminded to include this information after reading a recent disturbing mainstream media story about an infant who was killed by the family dog while in an infant swing. It should also be noted that some dogs become highly agitated by swings. Our dog who otherwise has a good temperament with family members has tried to nip five year old granddaughter when she is using an outdoor swing so therefore the dog is confined when granddaughter is using this playground equipment.