A turkey vulture looking almost as graceful as a bald eagle. -- Photo by Don DeBold
“We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” — Martin Luther King.
Travels With Maggie
My daughter, Trish, who one day may laugh again, lives at the end of a narrow road on the outskirts of Camden, Arkansas.
She’s learned to be careful driving the lane at night as deer lurk alongside the road and have been known to spook in the direction of bright headlights. It’s also common to see skunk, raccoon, squirrels, or armadillo scampering across the road – or lying dead along this rural stretch of rough pavement.
It was roadkill armadillo a few days ago when we were driving into town in Trish’s brand new minivan. And feasting on the upturned armadillo carcass were half a dozen vultures.
“Gads I hate those birds,” she moaned as we passed, to which I described their valuable role in helping keep our environment clean.
“I know. I know. But they’re still ugly.”
I don't think I'll ever convince my daughter there's beauty in this red-headed turkey vulture, but photographer Samuel Blanc, http://www.sblanc.com, caught the beauty in this picture.
Being one of those crazy birders who has never met a bird she didn’t like, I disagreed but then shut up as I knew convincing her otherwise was a lost cause. Now the cause is not just lost, it’s found its way into a parallel universe.
While driving home from work, my daughter came upon another roadkill scene and yet more vultures dining inelegantly. One of them, it seems, was even more reluctant than usual to forsake its evening meal.
The end of this tale is less pretty than the vulture. Seems the last one to fly away decided it might look good as a hood ornament on my daughter’s new car, which hadn’t yet 1,000 miles on the odometer.
The vulture put a dent on the vehicle’s hood before realizing this wasn’t such a good idea.
“Dang (actual word used censored) turkey vultures and their ugly red faces,” she darkly muttered when she finally got home and showed me the minor damage. She was gleeful that the bird staggered as it flew away.
I think all hope is lost for me to convince Trish that vultures are actually beautiful and a gift to the world. Wouldn’t you agree.
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