Our very small parrot, Tango, whose wife died suddenly last autumn, has spent the past few months in semi-hibernation, sitting on a perch in his cage and staring into space. Yesterday and today he flew into the kitchen, sat by the window and waited for someone to give him some bread & butter. This is what they always used to do; but the dogs must have forgotten, they were eager to catch and eat him.
I don’t think birds really do hibernate; especially not ones from central America, where it’s always warm.
A Bad Guide 
I think this is the phenomenon called a “Frozen Tango”, discussed by a special journal in Buenos Aires.
Poor baby, he looks a bit ruffled. I guess he’s decided against suttee.
Oh! I want to go to Argentina! I’ve only just made the connection between our bird and Julia’s blog about the tango. It was our daughter who named him that. Rather stupid; I’d always thought of it as the aircraft call-letter for T rather than as the dance.
Thanks, AJP!
I was just reading your bird’s misfortune and thinking: “Poor thing! with his name and this sad story he’s like an stereotype…”
I wish he could find another love! (or at least learn to sing melancholic tunes!)
And the “aircraft call-letter for T” refers to our music, so is the same thing.
Oh, and I forgot something: “Come to Argentina! ¡Te esperamos!”
It takes two to tango. Very sad to lose your metaphorical dance partner forever.
I just now put it together that the other parrot must have been the one who was taken by an owl on Christmas eve.
No–well remembered, though– that was a big parrot called Kiri, who was taken from us, literally, in 2001. Tango’s spouse was Sissy. I’m keeping her in a plastic pot in the out-house. She’s still in perfect shape externally. Unlike Anthony Perkins’s mother in Psycho, she was mostly feathers.
I wish he could find another love! (or at least learn to sing melancholic tunes!)
Yes, we won’t leave him on his own for much longer. He hardly ever sings any more.
I’ll come to Argentina one day. I may have to bring the goats.
We`re goat friendly… :-)
Is that a pencil Tango is perched on?
You should come to the U.S. I bet if you got anywhere close to Hat’s state of Massachusetts, a bunch of Hattians, and maybe even Hat too, would magically appear out of nowhere for a meetup.
It’s clearly a round piece of wood, thicker than most pencils, mounted in a hole in the woodwork and painted to match, and subsequently chewed on by the bird. At least I think it is. Dowel as dower house?
a bunch of Hattians, and maybe even Hat too, would magically appear out of nowhere
out of the woodwork
No, no, no, all of you should came to Argentina! Hat would be a magnificent guide.
You can`t deny it`s much more “exotic” than Massachusetts
(for you, not me, of course)
Hattians, not Haitians–poor Haitians. There’s very little tango in Massachusetts or Iceland. I vote for Argentina.
It was a T-shaped perch that I made for Sissy & Tango, when their cage used to sit underneath it. But they refused to use it. I’m pretty sure they imagined its outline as a big predator bird hovering over them. So I removed the cross-piece. As some kind of beak treatment, they’ve chewed off the end of the remaining piece; it’s preferable to their chewing through all the electric light cords, that was their other exercise.
Yes, I’d love to get back to Argentina. The steaks, the malbec, the pizza, the porteños and porteñas! Ah, to walk the leafy streets of Belgrano again, and visit the downtown bookstores!
[insert nostalgic sigh]
Then come!!
We wait you all here with a big and complete “asado” :-)
(Have you seen the last post from Río Wang? There’s some memories from another illustrious visitor.
Excuse me for the propaganda…!!)
Of course Argentina would be a more desirable destination, especially this time of year, and even more especially if Hat can show us food and bookstores. It’s just that I usually travel with a tent and a sleeping bag, and I don’t know if my car would make it as far as Argentina.
The bird must just go where ever he wants then, all over the house. Or do you have to open the cage to take him out and “walk” him?
I see the property where I have just moved has big problem with bird poo in the areas where people might want to sit or BBQ. Before the frost, I was busy pruning branches so they didn’t overhang the lawn so much.
The tent would work for the goats. Yes, Tango goes where he wants; but lately he doesn’t go out much, once a day. I built them a very big cage outside; he likes that, but it’s not suitable at this time of year.
if Hat can show us food and bookstores
I’m afraid my local knowledge is four decades old; we’ll rely on Julia for that.
Nijma, if you have plenty of time and lots of gas, you can make it with your car!
AJP, the goats and Tango will love it here.
Hat, of course I can show you the new stuff, but your expertise would be invaluable…
Is El Palacio de la Papa Frita still there?
Yes! But I think it’s not now what it used to be …
http://www.elpalacio-papafrita.com.ar
I still like the idea of “the exquisite papas soufflé”, whatever it is.
By a tremendous coincidence someone sent us some lovely photos of B. A. today. I would put them up, but she may be using them herself.
Great pictures at the Río Wang, including one of Julia!
Yes! you should try the papas souffle… they are exquisite!
The thing is Río Wang has two great photographers … but, alas, their models aren’t always that good!
(Y tampoco saben hablar bien inglés, lo siento)
If “papas soufflé” are those little round fries with the puffed-up middles, they are indeed exquisite, light and crunchy and irresistible. I’ve been searching for them ever since, with no success.
It would be worth a trip to Argentina just to see the sculptures and the Cervantes park. And Julia of course, parece muy simpàtica.
The first sculptor advertises “escultura sin hierro” but all the pieces seem to be made of metal. Or does “hierro” here mean something else?
“papas soufflé”: these seem to be what are called in France “pommes de terre soufflées”, literally ‘blown up potatoes’ which however are not in the shape of “French fries”. But “papas soufflé” has a much more mysterious ring, especially for a French person for whom “papa” (stress on the second a) means ‘Daddy’.
Papa means ‘daddy’ in Norway too.
Otra razón para volver, Hat!
Thank you Marie-Lucie! (¡El engaño de las apariencias!) ;-)
No, the advertisement says “esculturas EN hierro” that is “iron made sculptures” (if my English is right) or “sculptures made of iron”
I think your pomme de terre soufflées and our papas (stress on the first a) soufflée are the same thing.
So Hat could go to France instead of Buenos Aires… ¡lástima!
No. We decided on Buenos Aires.
m-l, is soufflé the same as gonflé in French?
LH: If “papas soufflé” are those little round fries with the puffed-up middles
Somehow it reminds me of a “papa dam“.
If anyone is still hungry after reading Julia’s food post, there’s an extensive piece about the food of Argentina in Wikipedia. The pictures are different in Spanish.
Julia, gracias. It is indeed EsculturaS EN hierro, not Escultura SIN hierro. I read too fast.
AJP: m-l, is soufflé the same as gonflé in French?
It is similar but not quite the same.
Gonflé means “blown up” or “filled”, as in filling a tire or balloon with air or another gas, as much as it will hold – it usually implies an outside agency and a skin-like object limiting the process. Soufflé sounds more like a self-induced process, as well as a more rapid one: for instance when an egg or potato mixture increases very rapidly in size in a hot oven, without being contained by an existing limit such as a skin. There is also enflé which means “swollen”, as in a body part which has increased in side through inflammation or other pathological process. Here the skin also imposes a limit, but it is itself part of the organ affected.
Thanks. I just realised that “inflate” must come from -flé.
AJP: “inflate” was borrowed directly and adapted to English from the Latin form “inflatus” meaning ‘blown, swollen’, etc, but the -flé in the French words is the product of the centuries-long evolution of Latin -flat- into its French equivalent.
Of course the goats can stay in the tent with me! I used to fit a small husky and an entire husband in there.
Argentina looks delicious, especially the BBQ. I see they show drinking mate. I’ve wondered about that, since it doesn’t taste very good to me. Maybe it has some medicinal properties? An old BF used to drink it with cranberry juice.
“Maybe it has some medicinal properties?”
Well, it has the same medicinal properties to us, as tea has to Englishmen…
You should try “yerba mate” in different ways (with sugar, without it, in an infusion called “mate cocido” that you drink from a cup, etc.). It’s not bad.
But our BBQ (“asado”) if you are not a vegetarian, of course, is really really great!
“inflate” was borrowed directly and adapted to English from the Latin form “inflatus” meaning ‘blown, swollen’,
I think of Latin as having come via Norman- & later French into English, but I suppose there were additional sources: medieval Latin, etc.
AJP, here is my historical mini-lecture:
In both French and English there are two major sources of words which are ultimately from Latin: in French, most words have been in use continuously from the time Latin supplanted the Gaulish language (and others), and they have evolved into the current French words, as in enfler ‘to swell’ from Latin “inflare”. At some point (Old and Middle French), some of these French words were imported into English, because of the temporary political dominance of French speakers which caused many English speakers to become more or less bilingual. Additionally, somewhat later, when classical studies became fashionable in Europe, many words were adopted from Latin texts and minimally adapted into the French and English languages. These are the words that tend to look and mean the same in both languages, like inflation, for instance. But some of these words are only in one of the languages, as in inflate from Latin “inflatus” meaning ‘inflated’.
There are also two minor sources. The first one includes a few words which were adopted into the ancestral Germanic language before the Romans left Britain. These words are unrecognizable in modern English, such as (a) cook from Latin “coquus”, kitchen from Latin “coquina” and cheese from Latin “caesum”.
The second, most recent source is the borrowing of Latin and Greek words into English without any adaptation, as for instance in “scientific” names of body parts such as ulna or cranium. Such words have often been borrowed together with their original plurals as in algae and crania – at least for purists or in scientific literature, since the general tendency is to treat the most common -a words as indifferently singular or plural, as with data, media and bacteria.
We should really put marie-lucie on salary.
Gladly, but what could we give her that would be equitable? I think her payment must have come already, in knowing the connections between so many words. I’m grateful especially for the second paragraph, about the Roman words, and as usual I’ll file it. I’m nearly ready to publish a “little book”, The Thoughts Of m-l.
Wow, guys, am I flattered! But my reward is the virtual company of so many interesting and entertaining people.
(AJP: those are not my own “thoughts”, they are factual information digested – or distilled, a better word – from a variety of readings on the subject. The longer I live, the more there is to learn.)
I think of Latin as having come via Norman- & later French into English, …
When you read something like that, you just know that one of m-l’s mini-lectures will be on the way soon. It’s such a nice thing to be able to look forward to, both for its content and as a gem of expository prose.
You couldn’t pay someone to do what m-l does any more than you could pay someone to make quality children’s toys. It has to come from the heart.
This was my first experience with Marie-Lucie’s “mini lectures”… what a pleasure!
Thank you!
You guys make me blush.
Well, it has the same medicinal properties to us, as tea has to Englishmen…
I drink tea mostly out of habit, and because it doesn’t make me buzzed like coffee. Tea is also supposed to be an antioxidant, so it’s probably good for someone like me with breathing problems. I take lots of vitamin C for the same reason. I found this:
http://www.amigofoods.com/yerbamateinfo.html
that says mate increases concentration and energy.
There was a time when I consumed lots of mate as I shared a house with some Latin American students. I should start again, alternating with tea rather than coffee for the same reasons as Nijma’s.
Well, Nimja, I was being a bit ironic… I’m not sure what medicinal properties yerba mate really has.
The thing is most people here drink it out of habit too… and because they like it, of course!
They also say it’s a great company and a good thing to share with friends (but I can’t explain the whole ceremony of mate in my lousy English :-( ¡perdón! )
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate
I think Nijma and Marie-Lucie understand Spanish quite well.
That was a good link, Julia, especially the Spanish one. I can read some Spanish, pero es despacio. El Señor Sombrero habla español mucho mejor que yo.
I think maybe the mate in Argentina is like the tea ceremony in Jordan or the coffee pounding ritual in Ethiopia. It’s an excuse to get acquainted or to spend time with friends.
Yes, Nimja, I think it could be something like that.
But it’s also common to drink mate alone.
Just like tea or coffee.