Pictures for Pam, Day 20: Golden Gate Park Treasure

(1 inset picture)

I am asleep and dreaming of some sort of fun adventure when I am slowly awakened by a little whistling chirp. A moment later, I hear another chirp. And then another. My little feather-covered alarm clock knows it's time to get up and peeps at me in the dark. Opening my eyes and reaching for the clock, I cheep affectionately back to her. It's 5 minutes before 7am. Encouraged that I'm responding, Pumpkin cheeps a little bit louder. "Good morning my little chicken dove," I coo, throwing off my covers and walking into the bathroom. Shower turned on, I return to the bedroom and flick on my side light, tie back the curtains and sing to Pumpkin as I uncover her cage. "Good morning little chicken…good morning baby bird…you are my ray of sunshine…although you're quite absurd…" Pumpkin has climbed out of her Happy Hut now--a little fleece-covered tent that hangs from the top of her cage. She's on one of her branch perches, stretching and staring at me with one big eye. "Cheebie-cheebie-cheebie-cheebie…" she responds as I open her door and she steps onto my offered finger. I bring her to my face and cover her with kisses as we go into the bathroom and I deposit her onto the perch in the shower. Soon I'm covered with suds and Pumpkin is laughing at the sounds of the water, whistling her songs while I mimic them back to her. Not a bad way to wake up, eh?

After I step out and dry off, I ask her to step up onto my finger. "Oh MY, aren't we extra fluffy and beautiful this morning?!" I admire her lovely clown suit…Pumpkin is a White Bellied Caique and features an orange "hat", yellow "kerchief", white "shirt", green "cape, yellow "pants" and grey "underwear". Holding her up so her beak touches my lips, I close my eyes and whisper a soft little whistling tune to her. Barely before the first note is out, Pumpkin responds with the same little intimate cheebie-tune in return. I can feel her beak moving as she whistles softly at me. It is a precious, special moment that we share and I know that Steve and I are the luckiest "parronts" (parrot + parent) in the world.

Pumpkin supervises as I dress and soon we are downstairs in the kitchen. I greet our remaining dog, Molly, with a pat and a "Good morning Mama Dog!" Wagging her tail, she uncurls from her soft fleecy bed in the living room and comes over to sit in the kitchen doorway, watching with great interest as I buzz around. Pumpkin stands on her perch in the kitchen window whistling and laughing to her heart's content while nibbling on a few wheat berries. I whistle back and forth with her while I make espresso, get Molly's breakfast together, prepare Pumpkin's bowl of fruits and veggies, and do a bunch of other things as I do every morning. Soon I have a dog who's eating with gusto and I've had my vitamins and finished my coffee. The final touch of a warm square of bread and a pecan on top of her food, I bring Pumpkin back upstairs with her bowl to her day cage and turn on her music to sing to. Then I'm out the door and off on my walk. Another day has begun at the Brien household!

San Francisco's Conservatory of Flowers resides in beautiful Golden Gate Park, which stretches three miles (4.8km) from Ocean Beach all the way to the famous 60's hippy era Haight Street. It's about half a mile wide (.8km) and encompasses a bit more than 1,000 acres (412ha). It's about 20% larger than New York's Central Park and features an amazing variety of museums, outside theatres, sporting outlets and of course, acres of picnic areas and gardens.

The day that Steve and I visited the magnificent dahlia garden, we parked our car where we could walk and take pictures of some of the remarkable plants on the way. Both of us were instantly lost behind our camera lenses as we found treasure after treasure. One area was full of ferns, accented here and there by masses of gorgeous orange flowers. Looking closer, the blossoms looked similar to freesia but no, they are something else. (Thank you Jenny, for telling me what they are: Montbretia!) I was captivated by the stalks of buds which arced so gracefully with flowers blooming in fragrant beauty at the base. The picture I'm sharing today is my favorite, and you'll see an inset of another which shows an open blossom.

Pam, while I was looking at my pictures of Golden Gate plants and flowers, I couldn't help thinking how much fun you'd have if you could see this place. It really is a photographer's playground. It would be fun to stand back and see you lose yourself just as I have, stumbling from one cool thing to the next. And yes, there are butterflies and bees! Thinking warmly of you my dear…

Explored on 11/29/18, highest placement, #2.