Eratosthenes is flying free

Eratosthenes of Cyrene lived a long time ago - he was a philospher, mathematician, astronomer...basically a jack of all trades but I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to talk about my Eratosthenes.

My zebra finch.

I'm not sure what the original Eratosthenes was like but I suspect he has only a few things in common with my one.

Eratosthenes joined our household a week ago. I never thought he'd be allowed in our flat as it's reigned over by my rabbit and no other animal is allowed to cross the threshold. Yet Eratosthenes slipped the net - how come?  Well, because he's tiny, doesn't vie for my attention or more importantly the fridge's and sits in silence all day long contemplating life. That's how he earnt his name.

In the morning he sings as I type on the computer and at lunchtime he calls to me from the sitting room as I get lunch ready. And in the evening he contemplates.

But there's something about animals in our flat - they always end up making their own rules.

Eratosthenes has been with us a week and he's already decided sitting in a cage isn't for him. Well the original Eratosthenes did measure the circumference of the Earth and this one is trying to measure the circumference of our flat. Sitting in his cage is old news - he wriggles out when he feels like going for a wander and when he's had enough he wanders back, settles on his perch and carries on contemplating life.

This morning I found him in the spare room contemplating the wardrobe. Later on he was on the piano contemplating the sheet music. After a quick break for non contemplation in which he went back to his cage to nibble seeds, he was off again. This time he wasn't contemplating at all but having an afternoon nap under the bed (and my rabbit won't be happy when she finds out because that's her spot).

This evening Eratosthenes is back on his perch and watching Star Trek with my boyfriend.

Just a brief pause before he's back to contemplating life.