Szechwan (Pepper) died today. I'd been watching him for a day or two, thinking he was sleeping a lot in his nest box. And this evening, he never came out.

I'll miss his Hunka Hunka Burning Love song, so long, and full of creaks and whistles. I'll miss his naked little head, and how I had to trim just his back toenails sometimes, and how he'd snuggle up with Oolong during the day, but then kick her out of the nest box at night. Well, maybe not that last one so much, but still — you've gotta admire a creature that weighs less than the average human nose who has such a strong opinion about things.

Bruce says "It sure was fun when we had 20 little birds in the Finsterium." Well, to be honest 20 was too many, at least since some of them were fiesty Zebra finches. But 20 was better than three.

R.I.P. Szechwan (Pepper), ? — November 11, 2007.