A close encounter with an uncommunicative parrot gives Pat McDermott pause for thought. Could it be time for a new puppy?
I was sitting in a small cafe near our new apartment when a woman walked in with a bird on her shoulder. This may sound like the beginning of the “dead parrot” sketch by John Cleese but I promise you it isn’t. The bird was bright green and very much alive. Its wee claws didn’t appear to be glued to the owner’s shoulder. Could it be an Indian Ring neck? A Lorikeet? A smallish King Parrot perhaps?
Who am I kidding? I wouldn’t know an Indian Ring neck from a bacon and egg roll – certainly not at 6.37 in the morning in a cafe full of edgy people. But I love all creatures great and small and this wee bird was clearly one of them. So I struck up a conversation. With Bird – not “Owner”. Owner, like everyone else in the place, was texting.
“Who’s a pretty boy then?” I inquired politely. Bird fixed me with a hard stare. The kind of stare you give someone who, having asked what you do for a living, says. “Insurance! Really? Wow! That must be fascinating!”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 2017 من The Australian Women's Weekly.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 2017 من The Australian Women's Weekly.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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The girls from Oz
Melbourne music teacher Judith Curphey challenged the patriarchy when she started Australia's first all-girls choir. Forty years later that bold vision has 6500 members, life-changing programs and a new branch of the sisterhood in Singapore.
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AFTER THE WAVE
Twenty years ago, the Boxing Day tsunami tore across the Indian Ocean, shredding towns, villages and holiday resorts, and killing hundreds of thousands of people from Indonesia to Africa. Three Australians share their memories of terror, loss and survival with The Weekly.
PATRICIA KARVELAS How childhood tragedy shaped me
Patricia Karvelas hustled hard to chase her dreams, but it wasn't easy. In a deeply personal interview, the ABC host talks about family loss, finding love, battles fought and motherhood.
Ripe for the picking
Buy a kilo or two of fresh Australian apricots because they're at their peak sweetness now and take inspiration from our lush recipe ideas that showcase this divine stone fruit.
Your stars for 2025
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Nothing like this Dame Judi
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