Wow, this is one of those days. Those cursed blinking cursor days when I am not sure what I’m going to write about. Today my friend asked me about whether or not I had an “exit strategy” for when I would stop writing this blog, or at least doing it on a daily basis. I replied that I would never run out of things to be grateful for (or if I did, shame on me), so I wouldn’t necessarily need an exit strategy. I could write every day about something I am thankful for. While there will inevitably come a time when I’ll taper down or stop writing this particular blog daily, today is not that day.
I am grateful for a simple pleasure today, and it is perhaps a little silly. Every few weeks I see a flock of wild turkeys who live in the wooded area near my house. Today when I was driving up my street, they were hanging out in the cul-de-sac and grassy area next to it. There were probably about five or six large hens. I stopped as I often do and took a picture of them with my phone. As a nature lover and farm girl at heart, I realize how much I enjoy seeing the turkeys around.
I’ve been unofficially monitoring these turkeys since we moved here in May. Back in late June I encountered a flock of turkeys–hens and babies–when I was out walking the dog behind the condo complex. The birds I am have been seeing lately are a combination of juvenile and adult turkeys from that original flock. It might be difficult to believe that I would dedicate an entire gratitude blog to a flock of wild turkeys, but the truth is, I find them highly entertaining and given some of the drama in my life over the past several months, anything that makes me laugh is a good thing.
Turkey Families June 2011
So yes, I am grateful for the turkeys that remind me that even though I live in a quasi-urban area, there is still wildlife to be found and enjoyed, including the occasional family of deer who frequent the woods behind us. They are a little more shy and less brazen than the turkeys in making their appearances–hence, fewer smartphone photos of them. And they are far more stately and much less amusing to me than the turkeys. So there it is. And I’m not even embarrassed about it!
Turkeys at the Stop Sign October 2011
Many of my past gratitude blogs have been deep with meaning and philosophical explorations. Today, not so much. I am simply enjoying the beauty and comicalness of these particular critters. Perhaps tomorrow I will be inspired to return to deep and meaningful. Simple pleasures for me tonight.
© M. T. Chamblee, 2011
Turkey Pipeline Two Days Before Thanksgiving 2011
