Turkeypalooza

Here's that crazy flock of wild turkeys I saw Tuesday near my mom's house. There were sixteen of them in all, so many that Mom and I wondered if we were getting excited about someone's domesticated birds. We went home and looked them up in the bird book just to be sure we weren't being complete idiots -- and surely domesticated birds wouldn't be wandering in a field on an unused section of cattle ranch.

I am back at my dad's house. I haven't mentioned his health much here, mainly to respect his privacy. Suffice to say it isn't good -- the dreaded c-word, in the lungs -- and though the crisis that brought me here turned out not to be a crisis, he has other continuing problems that still bear investigation and treatment. (This is not a new situation. He's a nearly 77-year-old lifelong smoker, and got his first diagnosis of illness almost seven years ago. Doctors have been removing or irradiating various pieces of him ever since.)

We're mostly just sitting around the house spending time together, surrounded by an ever-changing constellation of relatives. My step-grandmother came over for dinner last night, and my stepbrother and his wife leave today to drive back to Louisiana. After today I'll have a few days with Dad and my stepmother by myself. I think it's most rewarding for all of us when we're doing nothing special together -- just watching TV or chatting in the kitchen. Living our lives, you know?