Alex Visits Penn View

Mrs. Quirk teaches one of our kindergarten classes.  One recent sunny afternoon, she brought a family friend to meet some of the children.

Alex is a 20 year-old blue and gold macaw.  Mrs. Quirk and her husband 
purchased Alex when they first got married about two decades ago.  In fact, she and her husband consider Alex to be their first “child.”  Before having their featherless children, Mrs. Quirk was a 3^rd grade teacher at Penn View.  Every Friday, Alex would accompany her to school and help “teach” the class.  His favorite part of the day was sharing healthy snacks with the students.  The photo to the right is from the 1996 school yearbook. There's Alex on the faculty page, flashing his best grin with Mrs. Quirk on school photo day. 

Alex loves to have his back scratched....

Third grader, Abigail Quirk is seen here introducing her feathered brother to her classmates.  The students watched him crack and eat a walnut (one of his very favorite snacks).  He is not a tidy eater.  It looked for all the world like someone had been sawing wood under his feet when he was finished with that nut. 

He was pretty excited about his visit and was fluffing up his feathers accordingly.

This colorful bird has some words.  He says: “up”, “hello”, “cracker”, “Hi Al!”, “Alex want a….” and “Jordan.”  Seventh grader Jordan is the Quirk’s eldest feather-free child and he takes responsibility for a lot of Alex's care. This type of bird originates in the rainforest so the bird thinks showers are simply fabulous!  Alex loves the opportunity to join his family members under the shower spray, gleefully wiggling his tail-feathers in approval. 

Alex showing off his "Eagle Pose"

Some of Alex’s tricks include spreading his wings like an eagle, turning on and off the light switch, playing with his three play-gyms, posing like an eagle, being held upside down like an infant by his family members (they call it rocking the baby), and holding a spoonful of peanut butter for snacking.  Alex eats dinner at the table with the rest of the family and like many 20 year olds, his favorite supper is pizza.  Mrs. Quirk freely admits that Alex is VERY spoiled.

Alex met with some kindergartners, third graders, and seventh graders during his recent visit.  When I came out to snap photos, the third grade class was already outside the front doors adoring some furry little Detweiler kittens.  Mrs. Quirk opted to keep Alex well within the foyer until they were finished with the kittens because a cat is the animal most likely to cause Alex to display his ear-piercing scream.  Deer and rabbits in the Quirk yard have a similar (though less deafening) effect. 

Jody Detweiler with a basket of kittens!

I suspect a roomful of kindergartners who are excited about meeting a fabulous bird can muster a similar volume.

Mrs. Quirk with her current kindergartners.  You will note that Alex's belly is not the telltale gold in this photo.
That's because a stuffed version of Alex posed for the photo.