Jared meets his match in an aggressive little Senegal parrot named Cricket, who ultimately charms Jared and changes his life for the better. Jared keeps a large scarlet macaw feather as a memento of the relationships in his life that led to his becoming a "flock leader." Mementos Season 1, Episode 5: Jared's FlockGuest: Jared H.Visit www.MementosPodcast.com to see some photos of the memento in this episode. Follow the show @MementosPodcast on Twitter and Instagram.Follow the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mementospodcastFollow Lori at @mortaymortay on Twitter and Instagram CREDITSLori Mortimer – Host, Sound Designer, ProducerJared H. – Guest (Jared has a gaming podcast called Parrot Talk.)Galen Beebe – Story EditorAlyssa Duvak – Social MediaMusic:Kenneth Donahue for “Good Boy”Martin Austwick for the Mementos audio logo“Borough,” “Pedalrider,” “Let Go Gecko,” and “Checkered Blue” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue).looperman-l-2789900-0179984-roddy-rich-x-ynba-type-looplooperman-l-1186967-0194474-piano-melody-755-abelouisTRANSCRIPTMementos Season 1, Episode 5: Jared's FlockLori: Mementos. Sometimes what you really keep is on the inside. Jared: So I, uh, I walked into Emily's family house then various in the kitchen, and he's just staring at you with these watching every movement you make. She goes and gets some, opens the cage and you know, he's, he's able to fly. He's got his feathers.They're not clipped, but he sits just on her and he just stares. He would fluff up a little bit and he puff his wings out a little bit, kind of get a little huffy at ya and he just make himself look about two or three times bigger. And it wasn't like he was looking at you more as looking through when he wanted to be aggressive.The first introduction of me and Cricket was him turning around to bite my finger and making me bleed. He was, he was a demon.[00:01:10] Lori: Welcome to Mementos. I’m Lori Mortimer. You know, it makes sense that people like to talk about mementos that remind them of someone who’s passed away. But it’s also nice to hear somebody talk about a memento that has deep meaning to their own personal journey. Today we’re gonna hear about a memento that's tied to that little Senegal parrot, Cricket. Cricket isn’t very big. He stands about 9 inches tall. And he weighs no more five or six ounces. But that little guy made big impact on my guest’s life. Be sure to listen all the way to the end today because I’ve dropped something special after the credits. Ok. On to the story. [00:01:54] Jared: My name is Jared. I’m from central Wisconsin, Lori: Wisconsin, huh? Guess what Jared does for a living.Jared: I make cheese. Jared: Um, yeah, I know very Wisconsinite of me. [Laughter]Lori: Also very Monty Python.Monty Python clip: Blessed are the cheese-makers! Lori: And even though Jared humored me when I barraged him with cheese-related questions, Jared: uh, I mean, Parmesan is Parmesan, no matter what, uh, acidity level.Lori: That's not what he came to talk about. [00:02:25] Jared: The object that I wanted to talk about today, which I actually brought with us, is a giant macaw tail feather. Specifically, it's a scarlet macaw feather. It has quite significant meaning to me because of the impact parrots have made in my life. The tail feather of a scarlet macaw -- some people don't really know how big they actually are -- it's actually the size of my forearm, believe it or not. Lori: Scarlet macaws are the big red and blue parrots. Like the ones you see on a pirate's shoulder. But Jared's not a pirate, mateys. He's an air force veteran, a blessed cheesemaker, and he's here to tell us about….Jared: My journey into fatherhood of, of parrots. [00:03:09] Lori: The story starts with little Cricket. About seven or eight years ago, Jared was dating a young woman named Emily.She was in college nearby. Cricket was Emily’s her pet. But he lived across the state with her parents. So she asked Jared if it would be okay if Cricket moved in with him, so that she could see him more often.Jared: I was a little naïve, just because I'm dog whisperer and a cat whisperer. Like, every animal loves me.When he actually bit me on that first go around, I was like, all right, this might be a little bit tougher than it was going to be. And, uh, I kind of took it upon myself that I was like, I was gonna make him my friend. Just simply because no animal hates me. [00:03:57] Lori: Jared's mission: Win Cricket over. Codename: Parrot persuasion.Jared: The way I had it set up was I had a long couch, and then in the corner was Cricket with his cage. And then I had a loveseat, and I would sit next to his cage. And I'd just sit there and chat with Cricket and be like, Hey buddy, what's up?I would cut up these little strips of paper, and then I'd kind of fold them in half until it became like a little scratching stick. And put it through his cage, and I'd scratch his noggin...
