SO! I have found probably the coolest person ever in the entire neighborhood! Max, an eighty-seven year old retired sailor (YES! HE'S A SAILOR!) lived just down the road from me at my old house (sadly, I had to move a while back...) and every single day, Max takes Florence, his best friend, out for a stroll. This friend however, is not a woman, a man, a dog, or even a cat. Florence is a bird. A large blue and green macaw.

She is probably the sweetest bird in the world. Not only is she unbelievably kind and gentle, she also knows a bunch of different tricks. She can sit, stay, hop, speak, and even poop on command. She is a very interesting bird, but the cool thing is she sixty-four years old. Max got her as a wedding present from his now unfortunately deceased wife's parents. His parents in law thought that a a sailor in the Navy, he would be able to take the bird with him. Sadly, these people did not realize that the Navy frowns upon large noisy birds, so Max had to send Florence to live with his wife. He didn't see the bird for over three years, and when he returned home, he found out that his wife had completely trained this bird to do everything. Many years later, Florence and Max are still together, through hurricanes, the tragic loss of his wife in a car accident, and seven kids. This bird is all Max has now, and he is totally fine with that. They both walk about two miles every day, visiting some of their friends on the way. They have done this for over forty years. He really doesn't have anything going on for him right now aside for this bird, and it is very clear that they are both fine with this. How sweet is that??? :D