Taking flight

There has been a family of parrots living along the route I walk my dogs. They have a nest in a dead palm tree standing in the grass between the frontage road and Interstate 69. It seems like a precarious place to raise a family but what do I know.

I first noticed them when I heard their unmistakable screeching one day. I caught a flash of emerald green in a tree, then I saw two green streaks in the air.  Then there they were, clinging to the side of the dead palm. Then one of them wasn't visible, from which I gathered it had gone into a hole. Over the next few months I would see them, always two, or hear them every so often. When I did see them, it was always a visual jolt, especially during the gray winter. They're so strikingly green they seem out of place in the sky.

In the early summer, I started seeing them on the side of the palm making a lot of noise and taking some obvious interest in what was happening inside the tree. I surmised of course that there must be some parrotlings inside. Kind of the opposite of Monty Python's "ex-parrot": a not yet parrot. A few days ago they were making an awful ruckus and seemed (to me) to be quite impatient that someone get on with something. The next day, I saw four emerald streaks. In spite of all odds, they had successfully reared, and now seemed poised to be rid of, a pair of healthy birds. Over the next day or so, I caught glimpses of the four of them flitting from tree to tree in what seems reasonable to conclude is a crash course in where the food comes from when you have to get it yourself.

I wonder if the parents will remain in their freeway adjacent condo. I hope so.

Cooking gadget tip

I have just discovered a neat way to keep cooking oils. Now, perhaps this is well known and I was just out of touch. Perhaps even most people have no problem with the way they keep oils. I did. I like to keep oil in the refrigerator to maintain it. but I want to have some handy and at room temperature for cooking. It turns out that "boutique" booze comes in the perfect bottles. By "boutique" I guess I mean "narrowly marketed" as I have no idea if these examples are really especially good. Moreover, I know some really high end beverages come in outlandish bottles that really would be no good at all. So these are like small batch whiskeys or niche drink ingredients.  For example:

This is sunflower oil in what had been a Rocky Mountain blackberry-infused whiskey. The glass is thick, the stopper is substantial, the size and shape are pleasing and convenient. Likewise:

this is olive oil in what had been a 200ml Grey Goose vodka (don't ask) bottle. The long neck makes pouring more slowly easy and again, thick glass, good cork, nice size.