‘Quick! Mom come and see the budgies riding our guinea pigs!’ yelled my then, ten year old daughter, Koren.
‘That’s nice, Honey,’ I chuckled. ‘Are you playing circus again?’
She was persistent. ‘It’s true, Mom! Come quick or you’ll miss it.’

There are unique moments in my life, when I wish I had a video camera ready to roll. Greg, my husband and I have often echoed, ‘We must record this and send it to Australia’s Funniest Home Videos.’ Yes, we too have our version of your show, and it’s still airing with its original name intact even though the digital revolution has superseded video. However, I lament in all these years that we’ve never been motivated enough to get the camera ready to catch all those remarkable moments.

I was dumbfounded at what I saw in the bird aviary that day. At ground level, our guinea pigs were scurrying through pipes, which we arranged for their enjoyment; however, I don’t think they were enjoying themselves. Parrots love to make mischief and budgerigars are no exception. Right before my eyes (and I’m not exaggerating) the little birds were taking turns, standing above the entrance of the pipes to wait for a guinea pig to emerge and then a budgie would jump onto its back and ride it like a bull at a rodeo. The guinea pig would do a full lap around its enclosure before disappearing into a pipe, but not before its cargo anticipated its move and hopped off, ran along the length of the pipe and readied itself for another ride when the little critter re-emerged.

I’m not sure it was a game to the guinea pigs, but the hapless creatures were embroiled for ages each day in a cycle of X-treme birdie sport. With a wicked sense of humor that I share with my daughter, we thoroughly enjoyed the show. It didn’t seem to occur to the guinea pigs that if they lingered a while inside the pipes, they would escape the indignation of it all and enjoy a well-earned rest. The budgies might even tire of waiting and lose interest – but somehow I doubted it. Unlike bulls, the guinea pigs didn’t resist nor were they motivated enough to buck their riders off their backs. It was a shame they didn’t – it would’ve been an even better show and we could’ve charged all our visitors an entrance fee and made more money than from a win in the finale of Australia’s Funniest Home Videos.

I am glad that God gave us the gift of memory, especially for all those wonderful, zany moments in life. I catch myself laughing sometimes as I relive the ride of our winged jockeys so many years ago, when I stood arm-in-arm with my daughter and witnessed the delight on her face. Those precious memories of family, friends, strangers, and of my marvellous pets may fade one day. Children grow up and move away, loved ones pass on, and our own lives are fleeting. Time has a habit of moving on and the landscape of our minds change. Even through this, we can be assured that God holds us near and dear to His heart, and let’s not take for granted that He has brought His delight to us through some of His much-loved wacky creatures.

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About Janelle Dyer

Janelle lives with her husband Greg, in the regional city of Toowoomba, Australia. She has two adult children, Gregg and Koren. She worked as chaplain in state and private educational institutions, travelled around Australia in a repertory theatre group, has written many short plays and stories and ministered to children and youth.

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