So Charlie says, “Hey! Come here and look at this! There’s a big wild turkey at the edge of the driveway!”
Okay, we live in the country, and we’ve seen quite a few flocks of wild turkey, but it’s always a treat, so #4 Daughter, who was visiting, and I hustled into the front room to look.
CHARLIE: He’s a big one, isn’t he?
ME: He sure is.
CHARLIE: And there’s only one. We usually see them in flocks.
ME: Maybe he’s a loner. A rogue.
#4: Is he wearing a black leather jacket? Any tattoos?
CHARLIE: He’s a fat one, isn’t he?
Meanwhile, the bird comes closer, foraging all the way.
Here it is, between our driveway and the family driveway that goes past Mom’s house.
Totally other than a wild turkey.
ME: I believe it’s a peahen!
And, friends, that’s what it was. Like a peacock, but the female of the species. They’re called peahens, as ghu is my witness!
We don’t know of anybody around here who keeps peafowl, but here she was. Now, I ask you: How cool was that? Pretty freakin’ cool, that’s how!
I’m posting today at Fatal Foodies with a photograph of something else just barely outside my house.
A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character sees something unexpected out the window.
MA
Jane
April 23, 2013 at 9:46amVery cool, indeed!
I was once driving along a 2-lane highway with long yards rising up quickly to the well-spaced houses on top. I heard a particular, unpleasant call that I had learned from those movies about French and English nobs. I whipped around quickly to see where it was. Sure enough, casually strolling near the front porch of one of the houses, was a peacock in full glory, calling out his charms. Boy, are they raucous! But handsome.
Marian Allen
April 23, 2013 at 10:36amI’ve seen a peacock or two various places around the county, but not in my own yard! Mom saw her this morning, so I’m thinking she’s hanging out in the ravine we saw her go into. Wouldn’t it be great, if we had a clutch of wild peafowl?
Tony Acree
April 23, 2013 at 4:25pmMakes me wonder what kind of tattoo you’d find on a turkey. Hmmm. “I came first, not the egg”
Marian Allen
April 23, 2013 at 6:47pmHe-he! A gizzard with a bloody knife through it.