I Get It From Her

I often find myself in strange situations that I'm unsure how to get myself out of. Oftentimes, these tend to be the rather amusing stories that I put up here for kicks and giggles. After a few phone calls to my mother, I'm starting to realize that this kind of thing might be hereditary. And so, I will begin telling you the tale that was told to me a few weeks ago about how my mother ended up with a Neighborhood Watch that consisted of turkeys. Yes, you read that correctly.

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She had noticed the turkeys had passed through her yard a couple of times. They were missing their mother. None of them were tagged; they were indeed true wild turkeys. Grown enough they were, but not quite grown up to fend for themselves completely. They might have passed through entirely had she not put out birdseed in a feeder that just happened to be perfect turkey height. So they stayed. She called me in amazement that they had stayed.

"You fed them!" I laughed back at her, "Of course they stayed!"

They became used to John and her. In fact, you could say they adopted my mother and stepfather. She didn't allow them in the house, but they did follow them wherever they went outside. Even if it was back and forth all throughout the yard as John mowed the grass, or checked the mailbox. One of them is always getting herself into trouble. My mother named her Molly.

Eventually, they began to explore. My mother's neighbors are another entry entirely. They are truly eccentric in that they copy whatever she does. My mother made a garden, did landscaping and before you know it, they all began doing it, too. So it stands to reason that the neighbors started feeding the turkeys, became friendly with them and so on. You could almost make a case that the turkeys knew who belonged in that neighborhood and who did not. So when an unaware jogger came bounding down the pavement, you can guess she was probably pretty shocked to find a flock of turkeys chasing her down. They were relentless, until she left, then they came about and strutted their way home.

Let's just say that I'll be a bit suspicious if my mother sends a frozen turkey for Christmas.