I thought I had left the house this morning with plenty of time to drive to, park, walk in, and find a seat in church before the service started. Not this morning!

No more than 1/4 mile from the house, in a thick fog, I came to a complete stop on Main Street. Turkeys were crossing the road at a low creek crossing. It was pretty cool.

According to enchantedlearning.com, “The adult female turkey is called a hen, the adult male is called a tom, and the young are called poults. A group of turkeys is called a rafter.”

This morning’s “rafter” of turkeys numbered 10-15 birds. I saw only one “tom”, which I guess really shouldn’t surprise me, right? It was interesting to watch “tom” (as I fumbled for my camera) as he acted all the part of a school crossing guard standing on the center stripe and directing the hens and poults (maybe) to get across the road at a quickened pace in front of me.

Now I’ve had this group – not as many however – cross in front of my path (or vice versa) down at the Corps park. That park is about 3/4 mile from the house…but I’ve never seen them here, at this low water crossing, this close to the house.

By the time I upt’d, ahp’d, opt’d, and got camera-ready at this sighting, “tom” was giving me a little show of defiance, or was it perhaps a thumb-on-the-nose-and-wiggle-the-fingers type of “na na na” for my benefit? I don’t know. Regardless, he showed me his tail feathers in all their glory. And as if I have a face that can’t be trusted, he made sure he stayed between me and his harem…nope, sorry…I meant to say “his rafter”. 

And by the way, I was only 4 minutes late for the start of the church service…in plenty of time to thank and praise the Lord for my morning’s photography fortune and witness of Mother Nature in only a small part of her glory.