The One about the Macaw
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This past weekend, I was hanging out and casually chatting with a few people when my friend Laurie burst into the room and said, "THERE'S A MACAW!" The other people were confused by this exclamation but I have a profound love for the unusual and I knew that Laurie was basically saying, "VIKKI THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY HERE!" So like a T-Bird on the bleachers at Rydell High, I was like, "Tell me more. Tell me more. Like can you have your picture taken with it?"
Laurie pulled out her phone and showed me pictures and answered my questions but I knew that it was unlikely that I would have the chance to visit the macaw because it was almost time for us to leave and I didn't have a car.
We packed up the cars to return to the city and then headed out. I was riding with Stacy, who I'd met for the first time that weekend, and as we got ready to turn onto the main road she paused and said, "Unless we need to see the macaw..." If you meet a person who is willing to drive out of the way so that you can see an exotic bird, she's a keeper.
Stacy drove to the resort where the macaw resides, parked, and we wandered around talking to large birds - some in cages, some not - that could probably peck our faces off. We took pictures, of course. It was bizarre and perfect.
The lesson is this: Make new friends (who are willing to indulge your need for pictures with exotic birds) but keep the old (who are willing to tell you about them in the first place).
