Crackerjack

Crackerjack

[Adam] gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals.

Genesis 2:20

One of the most interesting pets I ever had was a conure parrot named Crackerjack. He was beautiful, with bright green feathers, a brilliant orange comb, and sunny yellow on his chest and underwings. He had snapping black eyes and loved to talk in his gravelly voice. If you asked, “What’s your name?” he replied, “Crackerjack! I’m a crackerjack!”

One evening we had dinner guests. Crackerjack was jabbering in his normal happy manner. Our guests had not been to our house before, so they were unfamiliar with Crackerjack’s wide vocabulary and repertoire of tricks. We were enjoying our dessert when I heard a siren in the distance. I thought, Hmm. This should be interesting.

As the siren came closer and closer, Crackerjack started his favorite routine. In his cage were a number of toys, which parrots—known as “clown birds”—love, including perches, a mirror, a ladder, and a bell.

He began to run back and forth in his cage, squawking, “Help! Help!” Then he swung wildly from perch to perch screaming, “Here it comes! Here it comes!” Then he bobbed his head up and down while moaning, “Oh no, oh no, oh noooo.”

By that time our guests were looking around to see what the crazy bird was doing. Knowing what was coming next, we were struggling to keep straight faces.

Finally, as the siren went screaming past our house, Crackerjack ran up and down his ladder yelling, “Fire! Fire!” and ringing his bell. “Fire! Fire!” Ding. Ding. Ding.

Now our guests were cracking up, we were dying with laughter, and Crackerjack was exhausted.

“How did you ever teach him to do all that?” asked one of the guests.

“We didn’t,” I replied solemnly. “He really thinks he’s a fireman.”

Thank you, God, for the joy that your creatures give us every day. They are so special to us, as you knew they would be. Help us to be good caretakers. Amen.