At our house we have witnessed a shining example of a senior citizen being willing to try new things.  Our cockatiel Sunshine is fifteen years young.  This is ancient in bird years.  We call him our resident curmudgeon.  He has a mind of his own and doesn't hesitate letting us know with his screeches when something is alarming or disagreeable to him.
 
Every day he watches the world go by outside his cage.  He has a good view of the outdoors from his perch that faces a picture window in our living room.  He likes to imitate the calls of birds in the neighborhood.  He comes out once or twice a day to fly over to the fireplace mantel.  There he walks between two windows, takes a bath, and ends his workout with a snooze.
 
Although he follows the same routine daily, we discovered a couple weeks ago that Sunshine has added something new.  The first time we emptied one of his water bowls and found a small piece of raspberry in it, we noticed that the water had colored pink.  We didn't think too much about it.
 
Then it happened a second and third time.  Now, every day when we change Sunshine's water, we find a new piece of raspberry placed in the bowl at exactly the same spot.  It appears that after all these years, Sunshine has grown to appreciate the sweetness of fruit-flavored drinks.
 
This bird has been a reminder that none of us is too old to try something new and find delight in simple pleasures.
 
This week's featured story is about a cat who knows how to join in his human's inner life.