This is the time of year for turkeys to lay low and decline ALL dinner invitations. Like the Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) seen in the image exiting our parking area, this blog will be absent during the holiday period.
Image by Mark Musselman
Dodging dinner invitations has been sound turkey advice for centuries. Around 1519, Spaniards with Cortez saw the turkey domesticated by the Aztecs and brought the bird back to the Old World. English merchants trading in the Mediterranean region during the 1530s called the bird a Turkey-bird or Turkey-cock after the trading partners whom they called "Turkish merchants." This exotic bird was a hit back in England. Colonists arriving in Plymouth in 1620 were likely surprised to see wild versions of their domesticated turkeys roaming the countryside. Today, the flightless, domestic turkey, which would draw a steroid investigation were it a professional athlete, bares little resemblance to its wild cousin. Fine with us...please pass the cranberry sauce.
Tomorrow is about giving thanks for both individual and collective gifts. Naturally, we are thankful for the old-growth Francis Beidler Forest, all of its inhabitants, and the freedom to enjoy its wonder and beauty. As freedom has never been free, we are also thankful to all the men and women, civilian and military, whose service affords us the opportunity to enjoy these special places in peace. In that vein, our eyes were drawn to the familiar scene in the advertisement below, but we appreciated the clever copy and its underlying message even more.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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