Didgeridoo is a Pied Currawong who came to us as a fledgling in late 1996 and stayed around our house in Katoomba until we had to move in August 1997.

On Sunday 8 December 1996 after an evening out on Saturday night I was feeling rather out of sorts, fuzzy headed and ungrounded.

At about 6pm I decided it would be a good idea to meditate. As I went to our little meditation room, however, the thought came to me that I had been intending for some time to re-dig our vegetable garden which has been neglected for a couple of seasons. I decided to follow that spontaneous thought.

I went out and began to dig out some rampant golden oregano which was over growing a favourite self seeded rose which lives in the vege patch. While I was doing this Didgeridoo the currawong came and sat on the aviary nearby and watched me. Then to my surprise he dropped down onto the ground beside me and began to feed on the little bugs and spiders and grubs which were being dug up by my work. He peeped and chattered to me and seemed completely unafraid even when I was tossing stuff around and over him....very unbird like!! We played beak wrestling, a game where I hold his beak between my fingers and he wriggles his head, and even a little footsie, a game where he lies on his side and I wrestle by pulling his feet ( a game which is more usual with Magpies). This went on for 3/4 of an hour in the gloaming as sunset approached. What a meditation!!!! Just to let go and BE with this amazing creature was exactly what I needed.

It was a wondrous time, completely unexpected and a real blessing to me. It lifted my mood and just brought me into the moment of my pleasure at this wonderful interaction with Didge. In the end I had to tell him it was time for me to go in and cook dinner, so taking my leave of him and feeling I had been blessed, I returned to the house.

Over the ensuing months I had many more sessions such as this with Didge until he finally went missing for nearly two months in autumn and Madhi has had her versions which will be on these pages at some time too. After he returned he was not inclined to come onto the ground with me but kept a little more distance, sitting in low branches of trees near the kitchen or on a ledge outside a window to be hand fed; although this seemed more a ritual of contact than a real need for the food.

Leaving Didgeridoo behind was for us one of the hardest things about leaving Blinkbonnie, our home of 10 and a half years.