Happy Thanksgiving from Tennessee!

For flowers that bloom about our feet;

For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;

For song of bird, and hum of bee;

For all things fair we hear or see,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tilly the Turkey

I will not be eating turkey this Thanksgiving.

And here's why....

Meet Tilly.

Tilly has called our yard home from a safe distance

for most of the summer.

Until last month when she decided to move closer.

Now she's on our front porch every morning.

watching the world wake up,

listening to the interstate noise

and checking out the airplanes as they fly over.

Then she moves to the back courtyard & deck.

There she eats the birdseed & cracked corn we leave for her.

She looks in the windows & stares at the cats.

And the cats stare back.

She terrorizes Oscar the cat when he's outside

where she gets very very close.

She either loves him & wants to be friends

or she hates him & wants to fight.

Either way, Oscar wants no part of a relationship.

I think she's lonely.

But she's also getting free meals.

A city turkey living the easy life.

After a busy day of eating & watching the cats,

she settles in for the night in her favorite tree.

Goodnight Tilly.