I Confess ....

When I was in high school, I joined JTPA. (Job Training P*something* Assistance). Basically, it was a job training program for low-middle income kids so they could have jobs during the summer. You found your own place to work that was a government agency (I worked at a county care facility) and the state paid the whole tab. Considering I worked 40 hours a week, and didn't have to pay any taxes because I was under 18, it was a fairly well paying job for a 16 year old.

Every kid got the opportunity to job shadow in a field they were interested in for one day. I ended up in a flower shop. Not because I was into flowers, but because I said I wanted a creative or artsy job.

Trust me, there are no art galleries in southwest Iowa.

My regional director drove us to our job locations which gave me an opportunity to chat with her along the ride. She confessed to me, that after living in Iowa for five years at that point, she'd NEVER seen a DEER!

To this day, I'm still shocked by that statement and am a little worried I let the woman drive me anywhere as she was obviously BLIND. Deer in SW IA are like dandelions, pigs or corn. They're absolutely everywhere. In fact, there's one section near my mom's home, that you have to drive about 20 mph under the speed limit during certain times of the day. One day, I counted over 30 deer in a 3-4 mile span.

It's like a class reunion and even the fat kid got invited.

The rest of the day, I kept my eyes peeled because I REALLY wanted to be the one that found a deer for her, but alas it did not happen. My advice to her was to turn your head to the left and right once in a while.

I realized later on in life, that maybe we weren't so different from each other.
You see, my shameful secret is...

I never saw a turkey my entire life, until about 3-4 years ago!

Now in my defense, I just don't ever remember turkeys being around here when I was a kid. My cousins (ne mo) talked about them all the time. My uncles were big turkey hunters. My grandfather died on his 71st birthday - and that had something to do with going into a ditch to hunt a turkey. That's been 25 years ago, so details are sketchy, but there was a turkey there. I know for sure, because mom said to keep my trap shut as it wasn't turkey season.

Oops.

I confessed this once to my mom and little sister Torrie, and mom thought I was crazy and instructed Torrie to find a turkey for me.
*This is where I started flashing back to 1986*

The first time I saw a turkey, it was actually about 6 of them. We were driving down the road, and I saw a bunch of clumps in a field. It was then, that I realized that those brown clumps were wild turkeys. And thus began my forever quest to find wild turkeys. In the fall, I scan fields as Gene drives just to see those little clusters here and there. My best so far, was about 50 turkeys in one spot, one early morning on the way to work. It was followed by a What the h....!? Look at all those TURKEYS!

Tonight, on the way home from Tanner's music program (yes, another one) right next to the road was a HUGE turkey. I had a camera! I had a long lens! The long lens was not on the camera! I shot off one, then instructed Tanner to get my lens. He takes off the cap, I switch lenses, I raise the camera (the turkey is running like hell now) and Tanner says "The lens cap is on."

*sigh*

I didn't bring him up right.

So we didn't get quite as close up as I'd like, but these are my first official ever wild turkey photos.

I might put them in my Christmas cards. (I might even be joking)