It was such a beautiful day that on my way to the dump I decided to swing by the Mann House and peek in on the wildflower garden. I thought there’d be some lovely flowers starting to appear, more signs of spring, something I simply can’t seem to get enough of these days.
And the wildflower garden at Mann House didn’t disappoint. That which was not already in bloom was just on the verge of bursting forth.
I crouched down low to focus on a little patch of flowers, completely oblivious to the world around me…
… and the footsteps behind me barely registered. Someone heavy footed was approaching. I didn’t have the garden to myself anymore. I turned to offer a smile to the newcomer –
That turkey was bigger than me as I crouched there. I mean, those birds are BIG and freaky-looking. And those feet, with those huge claws, and that beak – yikes!
But I’ll confess – my very first thought as I met the eyes of the turkey within arm’s reach was,
“Crap. I totally have the wrong lens loaded. I’m never going to get his picture.”
fantastic post, what a surprise ending!
Four great shots and a funny story. Love it!
Wild Turkey’s in Scituate! Love it!!
Oh my gosh, good one!
there’s still a dump??!!
I had my lens ratcheted down for the flowers, totally different light – there was no way I was going to be able to readjust in time, LOL! He was off and running as soon as we made eye contact. We do have tons of turkeys here, but this was the first time I’ve gotten that up close and personal! Shortly afterward, I could hear the turkey arguing with a small angry dog in the distance. (Dog: Yap yap yap YAP YAP! Turkey: Gobble gobble gobble GOBBLE! This exchange went on for a good fifteen minutes.)
And yup, thee’s still a dump (although we’re supposed to call it a ‘transfer station’ now!) – as long as there’s people there’ll be trash and there’ll need to be somewhere to put it all, sigh.
So long as there is civilization, there will be “trash” (waste, or trash, is actually an underutilized resource). Our culture and our species are two separate ideas. Civilization can end without humanity going extinct, we hope, and civilization ending does not mean the return of the “stone age” either. Additionally, only within civilized culture would a word like “people” refer exclusively to humans.
What I am calling “civilization”, see “End Game” by Derrick Jensen: People living in a density requiring the importation of resources, as in the culture of cities and accompanying practices of agriculture.