This morning, our "commute" - if you can call driving at 20 mph through gorgeous old neighborhoods a commute - was held up by something out of the ordinary: A flock of turkeys! It is the craziest thing, and it never gets old, but in our neighborhood here on the South Hill in Spokane are tons of wild turkeys. The photo above was taken just a few blocks from our house! I literally cannot get over it.
Have you ever interacted with a turkey? They are obnoxious! Turkeys are very brazen birds and they do not give a %*!@ about anything. Their motto seems to be "You can go %*!@ yourself" and they regularly hold up traffic and paralyze four-way stops. The South Hill turkeys strut around like they own everything and stop in people's lawns to peck at whatever it is they eat in the grass, and of course to poop and gobble. They're quite the nuisance.
Back during the time of our founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin criticized (mildly) the choice of the eagle as a national symbol in a letter to his daughter. According to The Franklin Institute, he wrote that the “Bald Eagle...is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly…[he] is too lazy to fish for himself.” Conversely, the turkey he finds to be “a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America...He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage.” That sounds pretty American to me. Courageous by all means, and yes, a little vain and silly! After all, we would be naive to pretend there is not still a shadow to every virtue.
I love the South Hill turkeys. Every time I come upon them, they sort of snap me out of whatever state of mind I'm in. If I'm rushed, I slow down, if I'm angry, I can't help but laugh, and if I'm sad, there is something about seeing a flock of wild turkeys strutting along that injects a little wonder and magic into my day.
(Photo via The Spokesman-Review)
Ha! I especially enjoyed that bit about Benjamin Franklin -- I had no idea!
ReplyDeleteHe was such a fascinating guy. I actually visited his grave in Philadelphia! :)
DeleteWe had occasional flocks of wild turkeys in the NY Metro-area town where I lived during high school. It was picturesque when they would flood our lawn, but another thing entirely when I was taking my driver's license exam and made the turn as I was told, only to be confronted with a road filled with turkeys! They wouldn't move for anything and I was so nervous that I was "handling it wrong" and going to fail my driver's test by basically just sitting there inching closer, trying to make them move. It was a narrow, winding mountain road, so when the instructor finally told me to do a three-point turn and head away from the turkeys, I was super nervous that I was going to be like that scene in Austin Powers where he's trying to turn that car around with like 1" of cleareance space. I guess I did okay, because I passed, but it was a pretty anxiety-inducing few minutes! Stupid turkeys.
ReplyDeleteOh that's so stressful! I am impressed and obviously you knew how to handle a flock of wild turkeys. Well done! ;) xoxo
DeleteIn Ohio we have geese that don't give a @#&% and block roads. They are scary and will hiss at you and stick out their long necks if you get too close! Once I had to go in my apartment the back door as the geese wouldn't move! I'm glad the turkeys make you pause and laugh. I'll try to take on that spirit the next time I come across geese slowly meandering.
ReplyDeleteThey sound as evil as the swans in the pond at the park near our house. They're so aggressive! Stay safe. :) xoxo
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