Snickers, male double-yellow scarlet macaw. Messy. Loud. Expensive. Needy. Demanding. Smarter than me.

The intelligent, needy, loud, messy, independent, nosy, expensive, opinionated companion parrot.

And did I ever mention, Wilbur, my goldfish?

My first pet was a goldfish I won at our town’s Sweet Corn Festival. Easy for me. Complicated for my parents. Their fault for letting me toss the ping-pong ball. I’d already eaten sweet corn, taffy, and those paper plate sized…