Just got back in town this afternoon from a little trip where I took
the birds along with me for the first time.  I had picked up one of
those collapsible travel cages for Randy and decided to try it out.  I
took that, and for Max, I took along Randy's cage which is relatively
portable (although I am now planning on getting a larger version of the
collapsible cage for him).  They spent most of the drive Sunday evening
hanging onto the sides of the travel cage and finally relaxed a bit
after about the first two hours with Randy growling and "barking" at
all the tractor trailer rigs, then laughing each time I laughed at him
for doing it.  I'm very pleased with how well they did for the whole
trip back and forth to my folks, and am planning on doing it again when
I go on vacation in October.  The only really minor annoyance was the
water situation.  I like to use the water bottles instead of water
dishes, and it seems that every time I'd go over a bump some of the
water would shake out and hence I have a rather damp front passenger
seat (along with a few poops that went outside the cage  -next time I'm
putting an old towel down first - ).  
You would have loved seeing this; on Labor Day my folks brought my
autistic brother home from the group home where he lives.  He's never
been around birds before, and neither of them have ever seen my
brother before.  Well, after dinner I brought them over to the table
after we finished clearing the table and let them roam around.  Max, who
won't go near a stranger until he's been around him for awhile (as in
2-3 days) went over to Denny, stepped onto his forearm which was resting
on the table, walked up his arm an on his shoulder and snuggled up
against Denny's cheek.  A minute later, Randy walked right over and
joined him.
 We were a bit worried at first how Denny would react to this unplanned
for avian attention, but he had a grin from ear to ear.  It was really
neat.  
Peace,
Fr. Joe and the Feathered Flock
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