Sunday, October 5, 2008

A Parade!

Yesterday was a funny day. I woke up, walked out of the bath room with my glasses on my head as usual. Newman tripped me. To avoid hurting him my body did all sorts of wierd jirations, my glasses flew off my head and when they landed, so did my foot. Yup, right on them. R.I.P. dear friend. In our household we call that a "Shemp." (Yes, of course The Three Stooges!)

I returned from the park and had to go to the Vet's office to pick up a bag of special kitty food for our darling Sweet Pea at about $30 for freakin' 10 lbs. (he deals with urinary issues) and traffic was brought to a hault as I was about to enter the parking lot. For what?! Yup, turkeys parading across the road. A whole lotta them! I was waiting for the band too! It was hilarious.
I parked the car then ran to the neighbors house to take photos.

Trust me, I love the house too. My favorite architecture. Reminds me of both Berkeley and Woodstock. If I could, I'd lift it off it's foundation and plant it in the middle of a 5-10 acre lot and start an animal sanctuary. And in late Spring, when the Wisteria is in bloom, dear God the beauty is insane. I'll take photos next year.
~
The turkeys just wandered up the drive pecking and having a good old time. Went into the rose garden, across the lawn (didn't get photos of that), then into the drive again and just hung out!
They discussed the color blue...
The value of a 401k and the sinking economy...
Life on the streets...
Sex and rock-n-roll...
But I had to boogie, so walked back to the Vet's office.
Yup, that's the Vet's office.
The side yard, with the black stray they adopted.
That's the Greek Orthodox church to the north (it's really lovely).
Returned to the car after buying Sweet Pea's food and couldn't help but notice all the pecking in the garden and Mr. Tom coming out to see what the hell I was up to. Yup. Came right up to me. Was within inches when I said "Hey buster, don't come any closer and for God sakes don't hurt me, cuz I'm a sissy."
Mr. Bigshot.
Mr Bigshot taking the ladies to church! Apparently seeking sanctuary.
~
This was my last shot because I ran out of memory on my camera. But what followed was hilarious. The entire staff at the vets, plus clients were out the door watching 18 turkeys walk through the parking lot and on to the gorgeous lawn at the Greek Orthodox church. We were all laughing and having the time of our life. It was a brilliant moment.
~
Life is good.
XO Suze
P.S. I didn't respond to all your comments in the previous post. I'm sorry. I appreciate each and every one. Thank you for your love and support. You guy/gals are the best.


31 comments:

Skeeter said...

Hi Suze,

Beautiful house and grounds. You always give us such wonderful images of your personal space. It's very nice indeed.

Hey! I love those wild turkeys. We have lots of them in these parts. I didn't know that their range extned all the way across the country to you part of it.

Best wishes,

Skeeter

Suzanne said...

Hi Skeeter!

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed. And yes, wild turkeys are here too. In fact, they graced our back yard about 3 years ago and I was in Heaven!!! You know me and nature. I felt so honored. Even when Tom came up to me at the Vet's, I was in awe. I was like..."Who? Me? You lookin' at me baby!!!???"

Is that house gorgeous or what?! I know. I'd hate to have to clean the damn thing, but it sure is nice to look at.

If you have time tonight or tomorrow, please stop by the Wild Onion. Cece is losing her father and obviously in pain. You always write such beautiful words. I know you'll help on this journey. And I'd like to reiterate what she said. You all mean the world to me. Thank you Skeeter for being such a wonderful friend.

Love you.
Me

just bob said...

Q: Why did the turkeys cross the road?

A: To get to the Greek Orthodox Church of course.

Suzanne said...

Bob, you still up???

I agree. It's almost Thanksgiving. They're obviously looking for santuary. Yesterday, as hard as it was, was so much fun.

XO Blottie ;)

Suzanne said...

Webster's spells sanctuary, santuary. I'll go with that!

kylie said...

hi suze

Leah said...

I love them! My mom said the wild turkeys are so thick in some places on the back roads upstate that they have to plan for turkey-waiting time when they have to go somewhere!

Hilarious post. I've got to show it to my mom.

Debbie in CA : ) said...

Thanks for this delightfully rib-tickling post. Those turkeys are a crack up. We have parades of this sort pretty regularly up here in the foothills -- which have begun to turn gorgeous colors! (The trees, that is, not the turnkeys. *snicker*)

Thanks for taking my mind off the things of the world and onto those ethereal things like "the turkey trot" on a gloriously gorgeous autumn day.

I'm off to start my day with a smile and a dance. ; )

Suzanne said...

Hi Kylie!

Suzanne said...

Leah!

Hi! Glad you got a good laugh because I did too. I envy your mother. I would enjoy a "Turkey Crossing" every day or so. What a blast. I just sorta love um! They're funny and the best part is they behave as if they haven't a care in the world. Wow, how fortunate!

So nice to see you back and happy. I was thinking about you Saturday when I unpacked an unfinished blanket I was knitting years ago. I had no idea how to finish it so gave it and all the supplies to The Good Will. Some knitter will know. It's funny how fast you forget how to knit!

Love ya,
XO

Suzanne said...

Debbie,

Hi darling! Thanks. That's what I'll call it from now on, "The Turkey Trot!" Ya gotta love um! They absolutely made my day and the day of so many others. God did we all have a good laugh. A precious memory.

And can you believe how gorgeous it is in Northern CA the past few days??? Wow! It's too beautiful. We're of course behind you in terms of leaf color, but hot on your trail. Some trees are just beginning to change, and the rain we got the other day seemed to signal Fall. It's in the air and it's lovely.

I'll visit your blog today if I can find some time between laundry, the dishwasher, etc. Thank you for always dropping by to encourage and support me. I adore you.

Much love,
Me

menopausaloldbag (MOB) said...

Crikey - that lot will be a lot more nervous come Christmas - great photo's.

Suzanne said...

MOB,

They'll be even more nervous come Thanksgiving!!! That's why they're vacationing at the Greek Orthodox church I assume

So nice to see you pop your head in! I'll stop by when I can catch my breath. Hope all is well.

XO

Unknown said...

OH that is a hoot Suze! I would be a bit scared I think too...if they got that close! Love the vet's office! Too cute!

So sorry...I haven't popped around. I was going to eventually! YOu do know that girly! I love you too! And you are always on my mind...and when I was at the ocean I really thought of you...they were holding a big fair for adoptations for cats/dogs and a few sheep!
Talk soon!
And treatment not bad but will talk more about that too!
Love you sweetie!

Suzanne said...

Hey Robyn,

I wouldn't be scared normally, but thought he might be protecting his girlies from me because he walked right up like he was on a mission. Easy brotha! He was adorably funny,

You never have to apologize for anything. Just relax. I was just giving you grief to keep you on your toes! Just because you have cancer doesn't mean you're handed a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card. What???!!! No, I'm never going to change. I can't. I'm 49! ;)

hnter1018 said...

Suzanne...You got an address for that place!!!!! LOL. Anyways...if you look in the first picture the turkey in the back by the palm and the turkey on the far right back are called gray phase hens. Not very common to see them so what you got on film is extra cool. You can get bronze phase turkeys, grey phase and black phase. To see two in one flock is quite rare considering some can go there entire lives and never see one in the wild. Great PIcs.

Suzanne said...

Rob ~ I saw your name and swear to God said out loud, "NO!!! DON'T GET NEAR MY TURKEYS!!!" Too funny. And then of course your opening line, "Got an address for that place?" I haven't stopped laughing. Honestly, just too damn funny.

Thanks for the mini-turkey lesson. I love learning and you taught me something I didn't know. I'll pass the info on to the vet staff on my next visit. THANKS! It's funny because we were all discussing the "white" ones at the Vet's. None of us had seen a white one before, so were fascinated. I wasn't able to get a photo as they paraded by because I ran out of memory (well, I should clarify, so did my camera!). I still regret that because they were within a foot, if not closer. It's interesting because we thought they were white. Grey never crossed our minds. When I have time I'll google grey phase hens and learn more. My advice of course is if you see one, don't shoot!

Rob, it's so good to see you here. I was just thinking about you the other day and was going to stop by and say "Hey," but without my blog roll I have trouble keeping in touch with everyone. I'll do that right now. I'm at the computer in an attempt to get all the kitties to calm down and go to sleep so I can get some work done. I have a good 30 minutes left to screw around. Yippie!

Hope all is well, and thanks again for the education and kind words. If you like I'll email the photos. You can tell your friends you took them, but can't disclose the location. Palm trees grow in MA, right? Okay, you're good to go.

XO ;)

Suzanne said...

Rob, you realize of course that when I delete the email address I delete the whole comment. Christ. I love that comment. How am I going to know what to look for when I research turkeys? Jeeeeeezzzzzzzzze. Okay. I'm deleting. I'll email the photos. Use them wisely!!!

XO

Suzanne said...

See...it's as if it never existed. I hate that. Hey everyone, Rob wrote a great comment! He knows a lot about turkeys! Rob, I would like you to elaborate on the eastern turkey for my class. What? Of course I'm laughing. Hop to it buddy! This time, leave your damn email address off.

XO ;)

hnter1018 said...

O.k. here is a little something. There are five species of turkeys in the us. Eastern which are along the eastern seaboard out into the west. Missouri usually has the heaviest birds for easterns Not uncommon to get them around 28 lbs.

When you start to head up to south dakota wyoming that area you get the merriams species also has some easterns mixed in and you can actually get a hybrid. Anyways not to digress. The merriams have a white band on the tips of the tails. Extremely pretty bird. Easterns usually have a dark brown band on the tip of the tail. Then you get into rios. The rios texas, ok, california and other states have a light tan band on the tip of the tale. Osceolas are found only in central florida alot of iradescent in the feathers and usually have the longest spurs and beards but lightest in weight. Goulds not to sure what or how to tell them. they are found in arizona and and northern mexico and have just started being reintroduced and are doing very well.

Male turkeys have beards...a feather that actually resembles stiff hairs protuding from the chest and spurs found on the back of legs and get longer and sharper with age and are used in fighting.

There are three main color phases a turkey can have.smokey gray like in the picture, a bronze phase in which the birds is a bronzy orange color and black. the black is a recessive gene from a strain of turkey found in spain. Primary feathers...the striped feathers on the wings are all black as well as the tail. Very rare to find one of these. There is also the albino which is all white except for the beard which is jet black. Just an awesome bird to see. These are the rarest given the fact that they cannot conceal themselves in the woods and get picked of by predators very easily.

That is just the tip of the iceberg.

Suzanne said...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh lettuce. I love lettuce.

just bob said...

Um, this comment thread went in a direction I never would have guessed.

Suzanne said...

Oh just kidding. Brilliant comment. God I wish I had a class of kids to teach. I have two friends who do. I'm going to direct them here. One teaches 6th grade the other 8th. You may have to appear for "Show and Tell." Please do not bring a gun. And no, air fare is not included. Hey, it's public education. Your tax dollars at work. Or not.

XO

PS I'm going to educate myself on the turkey, so that come around Thanksgiving I can talk the talk and walk the walk. You'll see.

Suzanne said...

Bob...BOB, BOB...HI HONEY!!!

Comment thread. Too funny. Bob, you haven't met Rob. Rob is IV's childhood friend from MA. We met when IV held a "Meet and Greet," a few months ago. Rob's a hunter. My arch enemy, but for some reason we just adore the hell out of one another and have found common ground. I close my eyes and that seems to work! I've also been know to put my hands over my ears. Rob, Bob. Bob, Rob. What? Of course I'm laughing. Hey, we all love the east coast, we all love the Red Sox, we all love the Patriots, oh and hockey. Shit. What?!

Life is good. XO

hnter1018 said...

Suzanne I added some pics to my blog of turkeys. some are dead though. i put them at the bottom

Anonymous said...

OH my god, I thought those were peacocks!!! I love wild turkey, er..and wild turkeys. watching one peck through the snow at Canon mountain in NH last winter was one of the highlights of my vaca in New England. We all just sat and watched it..Peck. Peck peck...peck....Sweet scenes of wildlife. Hey..Im glad to meet you. I do ramble on at times..heheh

Suzanne said...

Rob,

You're the best. The live turkeys are gorgeous. The dead one's too. I bet they wish they were alive! What?! What do you expect? No honey, I'm never going to change. I can't. It's in my DNA.

XO
Suze ;)

Suzanne said...

Suzanne,

Don't even get me started. I'm laughing and I haven't written a word. Hi, you wind-bag you!!! What? Oh God. Too funny. So, we finally meet. Hey! You're lucky I check old stuff. Seriously? Who goes back to old stuff? Yup. Me. Welcome sweetie!!!

hnter1018 said...

Suzanne wouldn't expect youto change. Your allright just the way you are.

I got confused by the two suzannes. I thought you were posting comments to yourself for a minute.

Suzanne said...

Thanks Rob! Wow, you were up late, or early. Whatever, pick one! Did you have trouble sleeping? And I know what you mean about the other Suzanne. When I first met her on another blog I thought her comment was mine (for some reason I didn't see the photo) and said to myself, "Self, I don't remember writing that." Just so you know I do talk to myself, but the day I start commenting to myself is the day I'll be hauled off to Belleveu.

Great chatting with you yesterday. Thanks for stopping by. See you soon! XO

P.S. All the best to the family. Hope the economy isn't hurting you guys too much.

Queen Goob said...

What a fun day! Absolutely histerical how unafraid they were!

And that house? Could you pluck it and put it on MY five acres of land?