Ok, if you haven't been to Disneyland (and maybe Disneyworld) or are below a certain - ahem - age demographic, you don't have a clue what I'm talking about so far. But it doesn't really matter.
Let's just say you're a Canary. A canary named Maxwell or "Max." You live in the lobby of a facility taking care of old people affected by various forms of Altzheimers or Dementia.
You can be sure that nobody pays much attention to you as an individual very often.
Then along comes Eric. Eric is interested in you. Eric has a whole repoitoire of bird calls, whistles, and other noises that are very interesting at his disposal. Eric is the highlight of your day-week-month, and maybe even your year.
I know one Canary who is very happy that Anne landed in his home.
31 posts in 31 days. Today is day 5.
3 comments:
Was that moon river playing in the back ground?
So truthfully...How long can your sweetheart sit there and talk to the bird? All Day?
Can a bird lose it's tweet from tweeting too much?
Yes, it WAS Moon River. The place where Anne is staying has all sorts of visual, scent, and auditory clues for the patients to relate to. In the lobby, there is always music playing in one corner, and in the other half, they give live concerts on a regular basis. Pictures are grouped not only by color, but also by subject because apparently with the advancement of dementia, they lose the ability to distinguish colors.
The birds at the corners of the hallways are another thing for the residents to relate to. A different kind of bird at every turn.
Furniture of various sorts are also placed strategically in the hallway, not only as visual clues, but also so the residents can sit down when they're tired.
It's a slick operation at Pacifica.
This reminds me of playing with the Mynah (is that how you spell it?) birds in Hawaii. We were walking on a trail and I heard them saying, "boo, beep!" So I whistled it back. We had a conversation for a moment! Then they figured out I didn't know how to say anything else....
janet
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