Spring is here ... or is it? From the viewpoint of Tom the Turkey
Tom reporting here ….
I’d like to give you some background on myself. I’m a big hunk of a handsome man, so big, in fact, that sometimes it is hard for me to walk around. I was brought to the farm as a small chick with the intention of becoming a Thanksgiving ‘guest’. Not sure why I never got invited to Thanksgiving. Anyway the farmer and his wife fell in love with me and pretend I’m their dog and scratch me on the head while talking to me in their baby voices. Most of the time I hang out with my two ‘gals’ and the other chickens and ducks. We all get along fairly well as long as they know I’m the boss. There is this one rooster that thinks he’s the boss, but nope – not scared of him at all. When it gets really cold the farmer lets me get in the barn because I’m a little (ahem) big and can’t fit through the door of the chicken coop. Anyway, on with my story.
The farmer is out of town, (again) and left his wife and the son in charge. I was informed that yesterday was the first day of Spring, so I’m expecting daylilies, green grass, sunshine and all those wonderful things Spring has to offer. What do I get, snow and more snow. The worst part is the farmer wasn’t there to carry me to the barn, so I was left to freeze. As I’m hunkered down outside the chicken coop (because I was brutally kicked out of the nice warm barn again, just as I was beginning to create some wonderful smells in there) with an accumulation of 3-4 inches of snow on my back I notice that the snow has knocked down the woven wire electric fence and the guard dog has escaped (again). I take it upon myself to now be the guardian of the barnyard. (Or at least in my head I did) As I walked around and around the place guarding the poor defenseless chicks and my two girls I begin thinking that I deserve a permanent place in the barn. I mean after all, Raven (mom chicken) brought her entire family in there to live and no one complains about that. The farmer keeps some fat ol’ sheep in there and mom sheep with babies. I like babies after all.
I’ve also noticed that the farmer has added new chicks and built them a nice warm palace.
What’s up with that? I’m not saying I’m jealous but … come on …
I’m also noticing a nice new swimming hole for the quackers. They are swimming all the time, even in this freezing cold. Well at least they aren’t in my feathers anymore.
Further on up the barnyard I hear that loud bottle-fed baby goat, declaring that it is dinner time. He is starving every hour on the hour and wants the entire barnyard to know about it. The farmer’s wife spoils that kid and I’m afraid he will turn into a real buck-a-roo!
This morning I noticed something very funny that happened. The boy that helps the farmer when he is gone took the tractor out in the snow to feed the cows. Well, you got it, the tractor is stuck and farmer’s boy had to carry the hay out to my friends the cows. I thought this was funny and laughed and laughed. It reminded me of the time the farmer’s wife and Charlotte (the pig) had it out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman so mad. In fact, I haven’t seen Charlotte around here in a long time. They mentioned something about her going to freezer camp. Guess she enjoyed it – maybe it is warmer than here. Maybe tomorrow, Spring will actually arrive. In the meantime, I’ll keep pushing for a permanent spot in the barn.
Signing off now … Tom the Turkey
