Stockton. The city of dreams and wonders. Maybe I’m just somebody with mild insomnia working in a Kaiser Sleep Lab at 5:30AM. Ironic. Irony becomes me.

I wait as the door closes. Room 371. The carpet comes up so high that the door does not shut properly if I do not force it closed. Once I’m assured that the door is securely closed I head down the hall way. I’m hungry, as is usual for me.

I swing the door open, a bit more abruptly than normal, and I immediately jump back. It’s unusually pale. It hardly even flinched. I tilt my head to the side a bit in genuine curiosity. I’m amazed, intriugued, amazed, I’m in awe. He is looking at me. It seems without fear. This was no ordinary bird. It wasn’t a Bay Area bird that does not fear because its used to being fed. No, this bird was not anticipating food. It seemed to be as curious about me as I was of him.

Him. How do I know it was a him? Simple. My logic for species is this. Human women are beautiful, amazing, wonderous creatures. Human males are not. To make up for this deficit, male animals of almost all species are prettier than their female counterpart. Peacocks, African Lions, Deer(Stags). That is just to name a few. Not there there aren’t exceptions, the Black Widow comes to mind, but most often the male is the prettier of the animal. This bird was white. Pure. The only bird I’ve seen this white was an albino Peacock. It was white. Beak to toe. I stood no more than six inches from it and he did not move! I extended my hand to feel his delicate feathers and the first time he did not move much. A minor side step which startled me causing me to retract my hand. I extended it again and he flew to the nearby roof. I was on the third floor so the bird was still eye level. He just stood there, perfectly still and stared at me (or so it appeared). I stood there for a few minutes in total admiration. What an amazing creature. I went down a floor, looked up, and his head was tilted down staring at me. Curious creature. First floor, same thing. Truly amazing! When I came back with my food he was still there; still staring.

The bird was white and more curious than any wild bird I have ever come across. Remarkable is all I can think of to say. Nature never ceases to amaze me.