14 December 2009 turkey’s return

Above, female wild turkey forages for food

Below, turkey walking into brush and trees. Natural camouflage is remarkably effective.

We believe this turkey is the same female that spent part of April and May feeding alone on our property. It came every morning until Loki chased it one morning. The bird she chased ran about 50 feet and was airborne as if from the catapult of an aircraft carrier. It landed in a hemlock about 75 feet above the creek and then vanished.

Gloria put out some food designed to attract turkeys this morning. The turkey spent about 90 minutes after that feeding. It is a beautiful bird. If it returns we’ll get more pictures. We’ll wind up shooting them through the windows as nearly any movement or noise spooks this bird.

Today, the temperature reached 59.90°F. The low tonight is forecast to be in the low 40’s. I’ve let the fire in the stove burn out today. I’ll build it again tomorrow afternoon as the low for the following three nights is expected to be in the 20’s.

Tomorrow I will drive into Johnson City to James A Quillen VA Hospital and offer my body up for an hour or so of audiology research. My hearing loss pattern meets the criteria needed to participate in someone’s research project. I’ll get $10.00/hour which will pay my gasoline there and back plus offer another opportunity to have my glasses misadjusted by the contract optical shop on VA campus. I’ll get some grocery shopping done as well and provide Gloria a little time to herself. She and the dog can talk about me.

Gloria discovered a chocolate flavored peanut butter at Earth Fare that has no sugar added. She eats peanut butter nearly every day for lunch. The first package of this went quickly. She put it on the grocery list without realizing that I’d already included it. Perhaps I’ll get her two containers.

Tonight we’ll eat beef-filled ravioli with a putanesca sauce.

I spent about half an hour field stripping and cleaning my Glock 19 this afternoon. The gun was clean and hasn’t been fired for some months but was dusty, had lint in the works, and needed a bit of lubrication. Next week I’ll probably work on the other firearms. It was enjoyable work today.