Why Did The Turkey Cross The Road?

To give Mrs. HM something to write about during Stay-At-Home-Down.

So much excitement on my twice-weekly trips to town! Last week, I had just turned onto our blacktop county road on my way home, when a deer bounded across the road. I put on T-Hoe's brakes. My dad and Farmer H have always warned me that when you see one deer, there's probably another one nearby. It has played out that way all these years. More than one grazing in a field, more than one bounding across the road.

Sure enough, here came another deer. Ran across the road after the first. They were headed down to the river. I don't know a lot about deer, but these two were darker than I'm used to seeing. Farmer H will say something about a spring deer or a fall deer. I guess when they were born, and the color they are now. I don't know, he might just be making that up. Anyhoo, these deer were gray, with their little white flippy tails. At least half-grown. Not the orangish color I'm used to seeing, like on a fawn with white spots.

On I went. About a mile later, a turkey ran across the road. This one from the left side, going right, into a large field that's the front yard of a house. Another one, too. They were hens, not too big. It's always exciting to see wildlife from the driver's seat of T-Hoe.

I picked up the mail, and started up our gravel road. Not far past the bus-waiting shack, I saw ANOTHER deer! Coming from the creek on my right, crossing the gravel into the woods. I stopped and waited. Nope. No other deer. I peered into the woods to see if it was standing. Sometimes they do that. Nope. Not this one.

WAIT A MINUTE!

What WAS that? It was the regular deer color. Orangish. Not gray...

IT WAS COPPER JACK!

I looked closer, and there was my little spotted Jack coming out of the weeds, towards T-Hoe, panting and smiling. I don't think they'd been running deer. I think they'd followed SilverRedO down to the mailboxes when Farmer H left. I had passed him in town.

I put the window down and yelled at Jack to get home. Like that little guy listens to me. Of course they followed T-Hoe, because they know I give out TREATS when I come home. And I've been coming home only two days a week now!

My little Jack was running 25 mph on his short legs! In fact, when I had to go slower up Farmer H and Buddy's Badly Blacktopped Hill, both dogs shot ahead of me. Copper Jack was running ahead of little Jack, but you could tell he was holding back. It was more than a lope, but he wasn't exerting himself at all. His back must be feeling good lately.

Little Jack was having none of that! He'd run up to Copper Jack and nip at him, until Copper Jack let him go ahead. They veered off into the field on the right, to run across our adjacent 10 acres until they got to the BARn field, and then the Mansion yard.

Juno came out to bark at them, and a good time was had by all, munching on cat kibble.