Cockatiels!

This is Beatrice, and she is lovely.

Heather, the other human in the picture, is also quite lovely - she's a member of ECO and plays organ and piano for Taize. Heather, however, does not to the best of my knowledge live in the language lab, so I'll focus on Beatrice for now.

She is one of at the three cockatiels who live in the Cooper International Learning Center. (I am also fond of the other two, Iago and Flaubert, but Beatrice is my favorite.) She perches, nibbles, CAWrs and preens, all of which would be really weird for a human being but suit a cockatiel perfectly!

The language lab is my new favorite place, although the Ginkgo Gallery might give it a run when I finally get down there. (They have kittens.) CILC, however, has giant Macs, light, air, and cockatiels ... I can (and do!) read my ERes docs with Bea on my shoulder.

Of course, I do have a special bird shirt, which usually goes right in the laundry when I come "home." It's a small price to pay.

If y'all ever do visit Oberlin, come with me to the language lab. Meanwhile, enjoy this adorable picture of Heather and Flaubert:

I guess she goes for the mohawk.

(This is how the situation would have looked if I'd said that.)