Last night we drove to Mahomet, IL, to visit the Wings of Wonder Avian Rescue again. This time we were on a search to find a new friend for Laura, and also to visit the bird that is supposed to be waiting for Luke.

I thought for sure that Laura would take the chance to lobby for a larger bird, but I was pleased that she ended up deciding on a perky male cinnamon cockatiel. I think he’ll be a good fit for her.

Luke liked the looks of the yellow budgie that he’s been waiting for, but the little thing was quite wild and Luke couldn’t get him to act friendly at all. I had warned Luke that the bird wouldn’t be tame and he’d need to work on that, but it was still discouraging for Luke to think of a bird that didn’t want his attention.

While Laura was looking at the various cockatiels, a certain gray male settled on Luke and stayed very quietly on Luke’s chest for a very long time. Luke’s heart melted, and all thoughts of a wild yellow budgie were forgotten. Luke decided he would much rather have this bird who seemed to love him already and trust him and would enjoy being held.

So, with birds picked out and with promises that they would be delivered to Bloomington one day this week, we loaded up and headed home. On the way, I decided that maybe Luke would like some help brainstorming about names for his bird. So as we were driving I offered, “Luke, would you like me to help you think of some name ideas for your bird?” I was so surprised when he answered rather matter-of-factly, “I already have a name picked out.” I couldn’t wait to hear what Luke had decided! What an amazing thing!

“What is it, Luke?”

“The name he came with,” was his reply.

I choked back my laughter, and nodded. “That is a nice name. Isn’t his name Toby?”

I had to just shake my head, with a smile on my face, at Luke’s decision to avoid all hard decisions and agonizing debates by just keeping the name the bird already has.

One final tidbit for today:

This morning, overheard at breakfast, was Amelia’s comment to Isaac, “You can PICK your nose, and you can PICK your friend’s nose… but you can’t pick your BIRD’S nose!”

Isaac replied, “I don’t get it.”

Amelia answered, “I can’t even get my finger in there!”

Isaac said, “I still don’t get it.”