I'm very sorry to hear what happened to Kestrel, he sounds like he was a very sweet and wonderful bird. I guess just try to remember the wonderful changes he went through with you and that he knew how important and loved he was when he left.

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I don't have anything to lose but my life. . .and I got that for free!

I know how that feels. I had a parakeet when I was a kid named Saphire. She was th sweetest thing in the world. She used to ride on my shoulder and pay in my hair, snuggle up to me, and when I went to her cage, she'd clamor around the side of the cage I was closest to and chirp my name. She couldn't talk, but my name has 2 sylables, and she'd chirp for me when she heard my voice. She was with me for 4 wonderful years, and she died the day after my birthday, 8 years ago of lonliness because I and my grandparents were out of town and the person we left her with didn't have any music on for her. She was found in the bottom of her cage.

Its been almost 8 years and I miss that little blue bird more than the mother I lost 2 months before her or the dog I lost one month after in that same summer. I still miss her terribly, so I think I have some idea of how you feel.

My condolences,
Windy

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It has been 50 years since the last human has touched life on this planet,

a planet all but forgotten by time, no longer in the tomes of history.

Wolves rule this land, an island on a vast sea of infinity . . .
[link]

How about using them in a dream catcher? There are some tutorials on the web I could point you to... or if you want I could make one for you with them (for free just give me time)

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Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art.
-Leonardo da Vinci

I think that's sweet. Any way to incorporate the feathers into jewelry of some kind?

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What it boils down to is professional modeling means getting paid to overreact to stuff like rice cakes and new shoes. (Invisible Monsters, Palahniuk)