On this first day in the lab of Mikhail Petrov, I don’t yet understand how special these birds are. How could I? What I do know is there is nowhere else I want to be right now, no person I would rather be than me. It’s been a long time since I felt this way, and the realization pours down, cool and refreshing, as I experience the watchful consideration of a scholarly African grey parrot. Even in retrospect, the moment shimmers.
