Zidane the Parakeet

My weekend was a whole lot of nothing. Two of my roommates were away so the apartment was pretty quiet, and I only left either to get food or to go for a run. In other words, it was pretty nice.

The highlight of my weekend came on Sunday afternoon. After watching the Final Game of the World Cup, I settled onto the couch to read. Around 5, my roommate, Peter, called me outside. He was gardening and a small bird was perched atop the railing of our terrace. It looked like this:




I quietly made my way to the nearest chair and whistled to the little Parakeet. He cocked his head and hopped over to nibble on my finger. I felt like Snow White, but blond.

Peter got some chips and the bird perched in his hands for a snack. It came over to eat from my hands as well, but as soon as it sat on my palm, I remembered that I have a fear of birds crapping on me, so I encouraged the bird to go take a sip of water from Peter's hands.

We decided to name the little guy Zidane, after the Captain of the French World Cup Team. He looks like this:




There are some striking similarities between the 2 I think. They include:
1. Zidane was kicked out of the final game of the World Cup because he head butted someone. I think Zidane the parakeet would have head butted me if given the chance. If not, he probably would have pooped on me, which is not very respectful either.
2. Zidane the parakeet opened his wings and flew away in much the same way that Zidane the soccer player has his arms spread in the above photo.
3. Both have the colors blue and white on them.
4. I bet they both feel a little bit lost right now.


"Can we keep him?" I asked. I was even about to run down to the 86th street Petco store and buy a cage, but just as Peter headed into our apartment him, Zidane took flight. I hope the little guy is okay.