It started out innocently enough - we made plans to go to Joe's for an ice cream cone, and a walk around the neighborhood to catch up. Joe's is one of those great places that has a wonderful, simple product and has not changed one bit since it opened in 1959. Unfortunately, Joe's is closed on Mondays. Wah, wah.
Leave it to Michael to find a solution. We started walking up the block and ended up at...Rite Aid. No, no, we weren't going there to huff correction fluid (we weren't quite that depressed) - they actually serve ice cream there. The ice cream is not that bad, despite the less than appealing brand name ("Thrifty" - WTF), but we found ourselves in fits of giggles at the counter - it felt so weird to be ordering ice cream amongst the toothbrushes and personal massagers. Not only that, they had run out of medium containers so we had to make do with the rediculously large family sized ones.
So there we were, laughing and walking around the block with our Big Gulps of ice cream, when we heard something that sounded like a cat. Then, maybe a monkey. Then, a person's voice. "Hello? Hello?"
We looked around and right in front of this house on the railing were 2 parrots - a green one and an African Grey. (why is my world suddenly filled with birds, why?) They were just out in the open, talking and making sounds as casually as you please. We stopped and "talked" to them for a while, and realized that the owner was right behind us washing his car. He showed us how when he blew a whistle, the African Grey imitated it exactly.
The Grey kept its distance, but the green kept trying to inch closer and closer. If you look close enough at the picture, you can see the murderous glint in his eye - and the owner warned us not to get too close, or he would bite.
Anyway, it was a great afternoon full of laughs and "only in San Francisco" moments. I can't think of a better way to spend a leisurely afternoon - you can't buy entertainment as good as this!
