An unexpected visitor

I love it when real life events resemble sitcom scenes. And I experienced a bit of that yesterday afternoon.

It was just a relaxing sunny afternoon and I decided to cook dinner. In the middle of it all, a friend rings for linguistic assistance. So there I was, chopping, stirring, seasoning, while holding my phone between my shoulder and ear and translating psychology terms from Romanian into English.

What were supposed to be a few words turned into a half-hour long conversation with whole pages being recited, analysed and translated over the phone. All the while, I was chopping-stirring-seasoning away.

For some reason, in the middle of the thyme-scented conversation, I looked up to see naught but a swallow perched up on the gas pipe! I instantly envisioned desperate fluttering, feathers flying everywhere and a breathless bird hitting itself against every glass surface, as birds do when they are trapped inside a house. So I opened doors and windows to ease her access, The swallow? She had no intention of leaving.
Instead she flew down onto the side of the stove, and then right on top of the wooden spoon sticking out of the pot. I ran for the camera, all the while maintaining a high level of professionalism on the phone, and started snapping away. The swallow? Not bothered in the slightest.
My landlady decided to come right at this moment, only to see me speaking foreign languages into the phone squeezed between shoulder and ear, while taking pics of a bird sitting on my stove. With a quick "um, how about I come back later" she was gone.
The swallow? After offering a lip shot to the camera, she gracefully pooped on my stove, then flew out the door like it was the most natural thing in the world.

The phone conversation ended soon after. And the food turned out great.
I feel like this post should end with MLIA.