The last day of November is dreary, rainy and cold . Perfect weather for sitting in the house and gazing out at the garden. I was doing just that when I noticed movement in the tall grass on the far hill. I recognized the movement as wild turkeys, so I got the binoculars for a closer look. This was a large group, perhaps the biggest one I have seen all year. I tried to count heads, but in the tall grass where they blend in and disappear at a moments notice, I kept coming up with a different number every time. I counted 18, then 16, then 19. When the turkey's reached Ed's path over the hill they started single file up the path. I've seen groups of wild turkeys do this before. It's quite fascinating to watch. When the last of the turkeys was in the path I counted again. This time I got 22. That's quite a flock!
As the turkeys reached the ridge, they had a choice to make. The path diverges there. One path goes straight ahead and down into the dead ice sink we call the meditation spot. The other path makes a left turn and goes up the hill along the ridge. That first turkey turned left, and went up along the ridge. The rest dutifully followed, and I watched them until they disappeared out of sight. Catching glimpses of animals is one of the great things about living where we do. But when those turkeys chose to head up the path instead of into the garden, we had something else to be thankful for.
