The conure stays forever. We almost died yesterday. Literally, not figuratively. When people survive a near death experience like that, it bonds you. I don't care if he turns out to be the meanest, screamiest, most bitey awful bird ever. He stays.
I live in southern Alabama. We had a freak snowstorm yesterday. There was no snow predicted in the forecast, so everybody had gone to work, school, etc like normal. I dropped my 2 oldest off at school, then the baby and I took the the birds to the vet for their well bird check up. We were there when the storm hit.
It only ended up being 1/2- 3/4 in of accumulation. I am a born and raised northerner. I grew up right outside of Chicago. I know snow. The amount of snow here was laughable to northerners. BUT there is no infrastructure for dealing with snow here. The news said the last time the city I live in had measurable snow fall was 1993. The city doesn't own a plow. Not one. They have no salt. No sand. When everyone drove on top of the snow, it compressed it and turned all the roads in to a solid sheet of ice with no way to clear it. All of that paired with an entire city full of people who have no idea how to drive in winter weather. It was, literally, the worst driving conditions I have ever experienced in my entire life.
I got a notification from the school that it was cancelled, but the roads were impassable and they were prepared to keep the children overnight. So, initially, I was just trying to get home. There were wrecks everywhere. Traffic was unbelievable. The highway was a parking lot. I checked my odometer. We had been in the car for over an hour and had moved 0.1 miles. Then I got another notice from school that their power was out. If I didn't get to my kids they were going to have to spend the night in a building with no lights, no way to cook food, and no heat. It was supposed to get down to 19 degrees. We have a generator. I knew we'd be fine at home. I had to get to my girls.
I knew there was no way we would make it home and THEN to school, so I headed straight to school. At one point a semi jack-knifed and flipped over on to its side right behind us. A few seconds later someone in front of me slid and caused a 7 car pile up. We weren't hit, but both wrecks stretched across the entire road, blocking all lanes in both directions. I was trapped in between the 2 wrecks and couldn't get out. It took the police more then 2 hrs to clear enough of the road that traffic could start to pass again.
I had bottled water, but no bathroom and the only food was a box of cheez-it crackers. With a 2 year old and 2 parrots in the car. We kept driving.
I finally got to school and retrieved my kids. At this point, I have all 3 of my daughters and 2 parrots in the car. We headed for home. I live out in the country, on top of a mountain. You reach our house by driving out in the middle of nowhere, on extremely steep, twisty, sharply winding mountain roads. There were wrecks everywhere. Tons of people had just gotten out and abandoned their cars. Just left them right in the road and walked away. I'm used to driving in winter weather and my car has all wheel drive. So we kept going.
What I failed to fully take in to account, were all the other people who aren't used to winter weather and don't have AWD. The roads were the slickest and most treacherous I have ever driven on. At one point, someone behind us lost control of their vehicle and bumped me. We started to spin and did a complete 360. While skidding downhill on a mountain. With deep ravines on both sides and no guard rail. If we had gone off the side we would have flipped over and over and over until we crashed at the bottom of the mountain. With my babies in the car.
By the grace of god, I managed to get control of my car again and safely pull us out of the spin. I didn't even hit any of the other cars that were already crashed along the roadside. The car that tapped me went off the side. I called the police and reported it, but there was no way for me to possibly reach that car. I don't know if the driver survived. When I got to the bottom of the mountain, I pulled to the side of the road, got out, and threw up. Then I hugged and consoled each of my daughters and both of the birds. They both cowered against me, terrified, but neither one bit. The cockatiel was shrieking, but the conure didn't scream a single time. Even when the girls and I were all screaming when we spun.
I pulled myself together, got back in the car, and drove us the rest of the way home. Weaving in and out around all the crashes. At one point, we saw a car on fire upside down in a ditch. I don't know if there were any people inside.
Our house is at the very top of a mountain. Our driveway is a 1/4 mile long and is completely vertical. We often joke that driving on it feels like going up that first hill of a roller coaster, where the chain is still attached and you hear that "click click click" before the drop. There was no way we would make it up without going off the side.
So I got the kids out, the older ones walked and I carried the 2 year old up the drive. With no boots or gloves. We don't own any. After I got the kids safely in the house, I walked back down, got the birds, and walked the 3 of us back up. My husband had called and told me that he wasn't even going to attempt to leave work and was going to spend the night there. We were all safe.
The entire journey took 9 hrs. 9 hrs in the car on treacherous roads, with 3 children, 2 parrots, no bathroom, and no food. I am still so shaken up by the experience that I'm trembling as I type this. And the conure never bit. Never screamed. Not once.
He stays.
